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NARRATIVE HISTORY 



THE UNITED STATES 



FOR THE USE OF SCHOOLS 



THOMAS HUNTER, Ph.D., LL.D. 

President Normal College, New York City. 



1/VF 9.1896 






NEW YORK •:• CINCINNATI •:• CHICAGO 

AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 



\ . -A 



\ 



Copyright, 1896, by 
AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY. 



HUNT. U. S. HI.ST. 
W. P. I 



PREFACE. 



Solomon says, " Of making many books there is no end ; " 
and this is especially true of schoolbooks. When, therefore, 
another schoolbook is added to the vast number already pub- 
lished, it behooves the author to give good and sufficient rea- 
sons for its existence. These he proposes to give ; but whether 
they will satisfy the public and his fellow-teachers time alone 
will tell. 

J^/rsf. — The author taught the History of the United States 
for many years ; and he has therefore treated the subject from 
the standpoint of a teacher. 

Scco7id. — His experience has enabled him to give due impor- 
tance to the salient and important events, and to pass over 
lightly those that are unimportant ; or, in other words, he has 
exercised the teacher's duty of selection for the purpose of 
making the instruction simple and impressive. 

Third. — The two greatest events of recent times — the 
Revolutionary War, and the War of the Rebellion, each in it- 
self almost a miracle, the former achieving independence, and 
the latter the perpetuity of the union and the abolition of 
slavery — occupy more than half the volume, and are related 
mainly in a description of campaigns, north and south, east and 
west. At the same time, great moral events receive their proper 
share of attention. 

Fourth. — The division of the book into chapters, with an 
appropriate quotation, generally a stanza or two of poetry, at 
the beginning of each chapter, explanatory of what follows, 
will tend not only to impress the subject matter on the mind 
of the student, but it will serve to cultivate in some degree 
his literary taste ; for doubtless most readers will commit the 

5 



6 PREFACE 

quotations to memory. Take, for example, Byron's description 
of Washington as the " Cincinnatus of the West," and tlie 
stanza which compares Lincoln to a " Pilot " in a great storm, 
and he would be a dull teacher indeed who did not direct his 
pupils to learn them by heaii. 

Fifth. — The whole tone of the book will create and foster 
a love of country and of the great men who are the peculiar 
treasures of the Republic. No pains have been spared to point 
out the courage, the heroism, and the indomitable will of the 
men who created and preserved the greatest and strongest 
nation of the earth. 

Sixth. — The work is free from sectarian bigotry ; the narra- 
tive is not interrupted by notes or questions, and therefore it 
may be read "without stop or stay," like any other story. 

Of course the book is a compilation — that, and nothing 
more. 



CONTENTS. 



Chapter Page 

I. The Northmen 9 

II. Columbus 13 

III. Eakly Discoverers and Explorers 18 

IV. French Explorations and Discoveries 24 

V. English Navigators and Explorers 32 

VI. The North American Indians 40 

VII. The Settlement of Virginia 42 

VIII. The Settlement of New York 48 

IX. The Settlement of New England 51 

X. The Settlement of Other Colonies 59 

XI. Pequot and King Philip's Wars 63 

XII. The Growth of the Colonies 68 

XIII. The Growth of the Colonies {Co7ttini<ed) 76 

XIV. The Colonial Wars 81 

XV. The French and Indian War 87 

XVI. Causes of the American Revolution 97 

XVII. The Revolutionary War — Events of 1775 105 

XVIII. Events of 1776 115 

XIX. Events of 1777 128 

XX. Events of 1778 137 

XXI. ^ Events of 1779 and 1780 145 

XXII. Events of 17S0 {Conthmed) 154 



XXIII. Events of i; 



'57 



XXIV. Events of 17S1 {Contitiited) 167 

XXV. End of the War 173 

XXVI. Washington's Administration 180 

XXVII. John Adams's Administration 187 

XXVIII. Jefferson's Administration igt 

XXIX. Madison's Administration 197 

XXX. The War of 1812 199 

XXXI. The War of 1812 (C^«//«w^^) 210 

XXXII. Monroe's Administration 219 

XXXIII. John Q. Adams's Administration 225 

XXXIV. Jackson's Administration , . , , . 328 

7 



CONTENTS. 



Chapter Page 

XXXV. Van Buren's and Harrison's Administration 233 

XXXVI. Tyler's Administration 237 

XXXVII. Polk's Administration — The Mexican War 240 

XXXVIII. Taylor's and Fillmore's Administration 250 

XXXIX. Pierce's Administration 254 

XL. Buchanan's Administration 257 

XLI. Lincoln's Administration 264 

XLII. The Ciyil War — Events of 1S61 272 

XLI 1 1. Events in the East, 1862 284 

XLIV. Events in the West, 1862 296 

XLV. Events of 1863 307 

XLVI. Events of 1864 , 321 

XLVII. Events of 1864 {Continued) 327 

XLVIII. Events of 1864 and 1865 336 

XLIX. Administrations Since the War 345 

L. Sketch of American Literature 360 

Transfers of Territory in the United States 370 

Declaration of Independence 373 

Constitution of the United States 377 

Table of States 388 

Index ^Sq 



A NARRATIVE HISTORY OF THE 
UNITED STATES. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE NORTHMEN. 

" For the old seafaring men 
Came to me now and then 

With their sagas of the seas ; — 
Of Iceland and of Greenland 
And the stormy Hebrides." 

Although America is called the New World, it is, according 

to Professor Agassiz, older than any of the other continents. 

But old as it is, it was unknown to Europeans until about the 

year looo of the Christian era, when it was discovered, but 

not settled, by a strong and warlike people who inhabited the 

Scandinavian peninsula. They were the famous 

^, ^, ^ Northmen who, under their vikings, planted col- 
Northmen. ' . . 

onies in Russia, France, and Great Britain. Their 

own country being rocky and poor, but full of fine timber, they 

were naturally led to seek their living from the sea, which 

abounded in fish. So they built very strong boats, called 

galleys, and learned to navigate them not only with oars, but 

with sails. Their dexterity as sailors, their courage in war, and 

their great bodily strength, made them the terror of all the 

neighboring nations. 

They were a tall, fair-haired, blue-eyed, and handsome race, 

but ferocious pirates and robbers, who seized everything by 

land or sea that they could lay their hands on, and never 

scrupled to put men, women, and children to the sword when 

9 



lO THE NORTHMEN. 

their passions were aroused by the excitement of battle. 
Cruelty, however, was so general in those times, that perhaps 
the Northmen were not much worse than their neighbors. 

As the mariner's compass was unknown to these sea rovers, 
they were obliged to guide their course by means of the heav- 
enly bodies ; but as the heavens, in these northern latitudes, 
are often hidden from view for several days and 

,.^ ° ^ nio-hts in succession by heavy black clouds, their 

discovery. ^ -^ ■' ' 

vessels were frequently driven hundreds of miles 
in the wrong direction. Naddod, in the year 860, was thus 
driven by a great storm, and by accident discovered Iceland, 
and gave it the name Snowland. 

A famous viking named Flokko, when starting on his voyage, 
took with him three ravens to guide him to the island. The 
first he let loose returned to the Faroe Islands, which proved 
to Flokko that these islands were the nearest land ; 
some days later he sent out the second, which re- 
turned to the ship, proving that there was no land in sight ; 
when the third Was let loose it flew away toward the west, and 
Flokko followed its course until he reached the island. He 
spent one winter there with his colony ; but he found the cli- 
mate, so cold that, after losing all his cattle, he was forced to 
return. He gave forth very dismal accounts of the island, 
which he called Iceland, and sard it was totally unfit for 
human habitation. 

The first successful colony was established about 880 by 
Ingolf, who was compelled to seek a refuge in Iceland from the 
tyranny of the Norwegian king. He founded a col- 
ony remarkable for the freedom of its government 
and the general cultivation of its people. The colony was in- 
creased by emigrants from the mother country, and continued 
to exist for several centuries. 

Eric the Red, a man of savage character, was obliged to 
seek in exile safety for some crime, and so he sailed away to 
Gunnbiorn's Rocks, which had been discovered in the previous 
centurv. These rocks were off a new coast on which Eric 



NORSE VOYAGES. II 

landed and lived for three years. On his return to Iceland 
he gave glowing accounts of the beauty and fertility of the 
country, in order to induce people to go to it. With 
the same object in view, he called it Greenland. 

•' , ' the Red. 

The crafty Eric's falsehoods were successful, for 

he returned with a great many deluded followers to add to 

the strength of his colony. 

The sons of Eric the Red were the first Europeans to land 
on the American continent. And the event came to pass in 
this way : There was a sea rover named Herjulf, who had a 
son called Biorn. Father and son had been in the habit of 
making summer voyages to Norway, and spending the winter 
at their home in Iceland. In the year 985 Biorn on his return 
home had learned that his father had gone off to Greenland 
to Eric the Red. Without unloading his ships, he sailed over 
the unknown sea to join his father ; but thick fogs set in, and 
a north wind drove them toward the south for many days, 
until they came in sight of land which he knew was not 
Greenland; for he saw no high mountains covered with ice 
and snow, but a level country wooded to the water's edge. 
He viewed the coast at three different places, but refused to 
land, as he was anxious to meet his father. There is no 
doubt that this land was the American continent. Biorn was 
driven northward by a fair south wind, and at last reached 
Greenland. 

Leif the Lucky, son of Eric the Red, fired by ambition to 
discover new lands, went to Greenland, bought Biorn's ship, 
and manned it with a crew of thirty-five sailors, making Biorn 
his pilot. In the year looi, Leif reached Newfoundland; but 
finding it barren, and covered with ice, he set sail, 
and landed at Nova Scotia, which he found low and oy^ge of 

Leif 

flat and covered with woods. Once more he turned ^^e Lucky, 
his ship southward and westward, and landed on 
the coast of Rhode Island, where he built a house and passed 
the winter. He named the country Vinland on account of large 
quantities of grapes found by one of his men, a German. Leif 



12 THE NORTHMEN. 

was probably the first European to land on the shores of the 
New World. 

His brother Thorvald explored the coast of New England, 

Long Island Sound, and the harbor of New York. It was on 

this voyage that natives were first seen, who were so small that 

they were supposed to be Esquimaux. Thorvald 

Thorvald. '' , • , r , ^ ^^ 

captured eight or them, and cruelly put them to 
death. To avenge the murder of their companions, the na- 
tives attacked the Northmen, who fled to their ships ; and in 
the fight which followed, Thorvald was mortally wounded by 
an arrow. In accordance with his own wishes, he was buried 
on the shore of Massachusetts Bay, 

Several other voyages were made to Vinland by the North- 
men ; but all attempts to establish a permanent colony utterly 
failed, owing, doubtless, to the savage and restless nature of 
the sea rovers, who were never content to remain long in one 
place. In a short time Vinland and the American continent 
were lost sight of and forgotten, and remained unknown to 
Europeans until the appearance of the greatest of all dis- 
coverers, Christopher Columbus. 



CHAPTER ir. 

COLUMBUS. 

" Skilled in the globe and sphere, he gravely stands, 
And with his compass measures seas and lands."' 

Nearly five hundred years after the discovery of America 
by Leif the Lucky, the republics of Genoa and Venice had 
become the great maritime powers of Europe ; and through 
the Red Sea and the Mediterranean they commanded the com- 
merce of the East. Portugal, in her efforts to compete with 
them, sent out several famous navigators for the purpose of 
discovering a shorter route to the East Indies by sailing 
around the southern cape of Africa. They sailed under the 
patronap^e of Prince Henry of Portugal, surnamed 

. ... . . Prince Henry 

the Navigator, a man distinguished for his learnmg ^j Portugal, 
and patriotism. He devoted his time to the science 
of navigation and to fitting out exploring expeditions. Doubt- 
less it was owing in a great measure to his generous efforts 
that such an impetus was given to maritime adventure. But it 
was reserved for an Italian, and not a Portuguese, sailor born 
in the humblest walk of life, to give to Spain a New World. 

Columbus was born, according to the best authorities, in 
1447, in the republic of Genoa. At the age of fourteen he 
chose the hardy and dangerous life of a sailor. Determined 
to rise in his chosen calling, he carefully studied the sciences 
of geography, astronomy, and navigation. Early in life he 
made a voyage to the coast of Guinea, and another 
to the island of Iceland. Perhaps in the latter he ^, coiumbus 
may have heard something of the Scandinavian dis- 
coveries of the tenth and eleventh centuries. He married the 
widow of an old Portuguese navigator named Perestrelo, whose 
charts and* journals came into his possession, and afforded him 
amusement and instruction. 

13 



14 COLUMBUS. 

After a great deal of thinking and reasoning in regard to the 
earth's rotundity, in which he firml)- beUeved, and in regard to 
its size, concerning which he had only a vague notion, he 
arrived at the conclusion that the Portuguese navigators in 
their attempts to reach India had sailed too far to the south, 
and that a shorter and easier route could be found by sailing 
directly toward the west. Hitherto the enormous wealth of the 
far Cathay (as Japan and China were then called) had been 
carried overland into Europe, in caravans, through the deserts 




Columbus. 

of Syria and Arabia, or by the way of the Red Sea and Egypt 

into the Mediterranean. This long, difficult, and dangerous 

journey might be avoided by the westward passage, which 

Columbus reasoned was not only possible, but practicable. 

No private man, unless he were very rich, could undertake 

without assistance such an enterprise as fired the 

Application j-^g^rt of Columbus. He therefore applied in vain 

assistance. ^^^ ^^^' ^^^^ ^^ ^^ rcpubUc of Genoa, and then 

to Portugal. He next applied to Ferdinand, King 

of Spain. In the meantime he had sent his brother Barthol- 



FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. I 5 

omew to seek assistance from Henry VII. of England; but 
being captured and detained a prisoner by pirates, the latter 
had no opportunity to present his plans to the English King 
until after Columbus had obtained the patronage of Spain. 
Ferdinand of Aragon had married Isabella of Castile and 
Leon, thus uniting the three kingdoms, and making himself one 
of the strongest sovereigns of the age. He was able, crafty, 
and ambitious ; she was pious, wise, and good, I'hey had 
waged a crusade against the Moors, and driven them out of 
Granada, their last stronghold, into Africa. This 

... ,1 1 1 r Ferdinand 

religious war had cost a great deal oi money, so ^^^ Isabella 
that when it was ended the sovereigns were too 
poor to furnish Columbus with an outfit. But the Queen was 
so impressed with the boldness and grandeur of his project, 
and particularly with the idea of converting the Indians to 
Christianity, that she offered to pawn the crown jewels to defray 
his expenses. From this sacrifice, however, she was saved by 
Louis Santangel, an officer of the court, who advanced the 
money, which amounted to only two thousand five hundred 
crowns. 

The necessary preparations were now made ; a year's pro- 
visions were placed on board three small vessels, named the 
Santa Maria, the Pint a, and the Nina, the first only having a 
deck, and being about as large as a hundred ton schooner. 

On the 3d of August, 1492, Columbus sailed from the port 
of Palos with a crew of ninety men. He reached the Canary 
Islands on the 12th of the same month, and remained until the 
6th of September, making repairs and laying in wood and 
water. He then started on his great voyage, sail- 

^ 1 The start. 

ing a greater distance from land than any other 
navigator had ever done before. Every strange sight alarmed 
the ignorant and superstitious sailors. Their minds were filled 
with a nameless dread as day after day they plowed their way 
through an unknown sea. They clamored to return, and even 
threatened to throw Columbus overboard. But he, with the 
native craft which often accompanies the highest order of 



1 6 COLUMBUS. 

intellect, explained everything and promised everything. He 
held out the inducement of rewards to those who would obey. 
^. Finally, after trials and dangers which would 

Discovery -^ ' '=' 

of the have crushed the spirit of a man less resolute and 
Bahama vigorous, Columbus discovcrcd land on the 12th 
Islands. ^£ Octobcr. The land was Guanahani, one of the 
Bahama Islands, which he named San Salvador. 

He spent several months sailing among the islands, to which 
he gave the name West Indies, under the erroneous belief that 
they were a portion of the East Indies. Leaving a colony of 
thirty-nine men behind him, h€ returned to Spain with the two 
smaller vessels, the largest having been wrecked some time 
previously. On the homeward voyage he was overtaken by a 
storm so dreadful that he expected every moment that his ships 
would go to the bottom. During this danger he wrote an ac- 
count of his discovery, and carefully sealing it in a water-tight 
cask, committed it to the sea, in the hope that it might be 
washed ashore, or picked up by some passing vessel, so that his 
wonderful discovery might not be lost to the world. The two 
little vessels — hardly better than open boats — survived the 
storm, and arrived safe in Spain. Columbus was received by 
the King and Queen with all the honors that his courage and 
skill deserved. 

In the spring of 1493 Columbus started out on his second 

voyage with a well-equipped fleet of seventeen ships. He 

directed his course so as to reach the thirty-nine 

Columbus's colonists whom he had left behind ; but they were 

second 

vnvacrp ^11 dcad — from what cause was never known. He 
discovered many islands ; but his explorations were 
embarrassed by the presence of several poor and lazy noble- 
men whose only purpose in making the voyage was the acqui- 
sition of wealth without work. They found means to complain 
to the King that Columbus did not use proper efforts to secure 
the gold which abounded in great quantities. Ferdinand being 
suspicious and greedy, sent out a spy to report the conduct 
of the great navigator. Columbus, however, suddenly returned 



THE l^HW WORLD 



(3C 




WITH ROUTES 
or DISCOVERIES 




ol) 



THE DISCOVERY. 



17 



to Spain to confront and confound his enemies. The gold 
and silver and other productions of the \^'est Indies which he 
exhibited soon restored him to the favor of the court. 

For his third voyage he was provided with fourteen vessels, 
eight to convey provisions, and six to carry on his explorations. 
This time he sailed farther to the south, and discovered Trini- 
dad and the mainland of the continent. On reach- 
ing the colony he found disorder and mutinv. °"**"^"^ 

, ^ , ' discovered. 

Again his enemies accused him to the King of dis- 
loyalty and other misdemeanors. At length the ungrateful 
Ferdinand broke faith with the hero who had given him a new 
world, deprived him of his rank and command, and superseded 
him by an impoverished nobleman, who sent him home a pris- 
oner in chains. The captain of the ship in which he was taken 
to Spain kindly offered to strike off his fetters ; but this favor 
Columbus refused to accept. 

The crafty King, either ashamed of his own meanness, or 
afraid of his subjects, ordered Columbus to be released, invited 
him to court, and apologized for the conduct of his governor, 
whom he . promised to recall. He also promised to restore 
Columbus to his rank of admiral of all the lands and seas 
discovered by him ; but he violated his plighted word in a 
shameful manner. Columbus was unable to forget the degrada- 
tion and injustice inflicted upon him. He hung up his fetters 
in his bedroom, and ordered them to be placed in his grave. 

Columbus made his fourth and last voyage in 1502, accom- 
panied by his son Ferdinand and his brother Bartholomew ; but 
nothing of importance was discovered except Honduras and the 
Isthmus of Darien. His fleet was shattered in a 
storm ; and after many trials and sufferings he f°"'"*'^ 

. . voyage, 

returned to Spain. His friend and patroness, Isa- ^^^ death, 
bella, was now dead ; and worn out with hard- 
ships and ill health, he spent the last year of his life in a 
vain endeavor to recover his rights. He died at the age of 
fifty-nine, a victim to the pride and prejudice of the nobles, 
and to the greed and ingratitude of the King. 

HUNT. U. S. HIST. — 2 



CHAPTER III. 

EARLY DISCOVERERS AND EXPLORERS. 

" O'er the glad waters of the dark blue sea, 

Our thoughts as boundless, and our souls as free ; 
Far as the breeze can bear, the billows foam. 
Survey our empire and behold our home." 

Columbus was cheated not only out of his rank and com- 
mand, but out of his right to give his name to the conti- 
nent he had discovered. Alonso de Ojeda, who 
mango |^^^ sailed with him in his second voyage, was 
commander of an expedition, which, following in 
the track of Columbus, reached the mainland at Paria in 1499, 
one year later than Columbus. With Ojeda sailed Amerigo 
Vespucci, a Florentine merchant, who 
published a book descriptive of the 
New World, which was named after 
him A?nen'ca. 

Henry VH. of England was a mean 
and avaricious monarch, anxious to 
curb the power of the nobles, and to 
build up a commercial class on whose 
fidelity he could rely. Hearing ac- 

Amerigo Vespucci. COUntS of the disCOVCrieS of ColumbuS, 

and of the gold and silver which he 
had brought to Spain from the newly discovered lands, he 
resolved, if possible, to obtain a portion of the enormous 
riches of the far Cathay. It had been his policy to invite to 
England merchants from all parts of Europe, and especially 
from Genoa and Venice, then the greatest commercial cities 
of the world. 

One of these merchants was a skillful mariner named John 
Cabot, born in Venice, and residing in Bristol. He had three 

18 




THE CABOTS AND CORTEREAL. I9 

sons, Lewis, Sebastian, and Sanctius, all, like himself, educated 
sailors. By his knowledge of geography, he concluded that 
by sailinsf more to the north than Columbus had 

/ , , , t 7 -r. -r T 1 1 TheCabots. 

done, he could reach the East Indies by a much 

shorter route. Having explained this matter to the King, he 

received a commission to carry out his project. 

Accompanied by his son Sebastian, he sailed from Bristol in 
1497, and discovered the mainland of the continent, probably 
at Labrador. Sebastian Cabot commanded a second expedi- 
tion which sailed in 1498, still in search of the short route 
to the East; and after exploring 
the coast from the far north to 
the shores of the Carolinas, he 
returned without having accom- 
plished anything of note. How- 
ever, these voyages are remarkable 
for two things : John Cabot was 
the first to discover the continent, 
being one year before Columbus 
and two . before Vespucci ; and 
th^ey gave England a claim to / 

the greater portion of North Sebastian cabot. 

America. 

The Portuguese were envious of the riches acquired by 
Spain, owing to the discoveries of Columbus, and vexed that 
they had rejected his proposals. Like Henry VIL, they were 
determined to obtain a share of the riches of Cathay. 

-^ Cortereal. 

Accordingly, Caspar Cortereal was sent out, m 1500, 
in search of a passage to India by a northern route. He 
explored the coast for several hundred miles, following the 
same course as Sebastian Cabot. He made no settlement, 
nor did he find any gold ; but he stole fifty-seven natives, 
whom he meant to sell into slavery. He made a second 
voyage, from which he never returned. Whether he was lost 
at sea, or killed by the Indians for the kidnapping of their 
brethren, is not known. 




20 EARLY DISCOVERERS AND EXPLORERS. 

Many of the adventurers who succeeded the great Columbus 
were bold, bad men, greedy for gold, and exceedingly cruel. 
They treated the helpless natives with the greatest barbarity. 
Clad in armor, furnished with firearms and steel weapons, 
sometimes mounted on horseback, and making use of blood- 
hounds, they drove the defenseless Indians before them, maim- 
ing, torturing, and killing them in the very wantonness of 
cruelty. The bows and arrows and flint-pointed spears of the 
natives could make but little impression on the well-armed 
Spaniards. 

Vasco Nuiiez de Balboa, on the contrary, treated the Indians 
with justice and humanity, and endeavored to win their con- 
fidence and affection. In 1510 he joined an expe- 

Baiboa ^ition under the command of Enciso, who had 

discovers 

the Pacific, prcviously scrvcd as lieutenant under Ojeda. 
They founded on the Isthmus of Panama the town 
of Santa Maria de la Antigua ; but dissensions having broken 
out among their followers, Enciso was deposed, and Balboa 
was elected leader. Reenforcements having arrived from His- 
paniola, Balboa proceeded to explore the Isthmus of Darien. 
He learned from a friendly Indian that a six days' journey 
would bring him to another great sea, and to a land abound- 
ing in gold. He thereupon started out from Darien, and, after 
overcoming many difficulties, discovered, in 15 13, the Pacific 
Ocean. 

Juan Ponce de Leon had accompanied Columbus on his 

second voyage, and served in Hispaniola under Ovando. He 

had acquired great wealth by his conquest of 

Leon. Puerto Rico ; but he had been deprived of his 

governorship of the island, and had become an 

old man. Hearing from an Indian a tradition concerning a 

fountain, somewhere toward the north, which possessed the 

wonderful power of restoring youth, he resolved to go forth 

and find it. 

Accordingly he set sail from Puerto Rico, in 1512, with 
three ships, on this remarkable voyage of discovery. After 



DE NARVAEZ. 21 

sailing for some time among the Bahama Islands, he reached 
the mainland on Easter Sunday, called by the Spaniards Pas- 
cua de Flores. In honor of the day, and because of the rich 
and beautiful flowers which everywhere abounded, 
he named the newly discovered country Florida. o/^i°^^JJ[ 
He and his followers searched in all directions for 
the fountain of perpetual youth. They drank at every spring -, 
they bathed in every stream ; and it is needless to say that 
they were sadly disappointed. However, the aged Ponce de 
Leon was made governor on condition that he would establish 
a colony. Some time after this, in a fight with the Florida 
Indians, he was wounded with a poisoned arrow, and died in 
152 1. 

Under a commission from the emperor, Charles V., Panphilo 
de Narvaez sailed from Spain, in 1527, with five ships and five 
hundred men, determined to rival in Florida the 

1 ■ r T-.- • T-. 1 ^^ • TV r • ^^ Narvaez. 

exploits or rizarro in Peru and Cortes in Mexico. 
He spent the winter in the West Indies, and started out in 
the spring of 1528. He landed at Tampa Bay. Almost im- 
mediately he left the coast, against the advice of his most 
sagacious officer, Cabeza de Vaca, and plunged recklessly into 
a country densely wooded, and covered, here and there, with 
impassable swamps. 

The Spaniards, as usual, foolishly antagonized the natives in 
the first Indian village they came to by an act of desecration. 
Learning from one of their prisoners that there was gold farther 
inland, they continued their march, encountering difficulties of 
all kinds — hunger, disease, and the hostility of the Indians 
whom they had wantonly provoked. ' Not finding that of which 
they were in search, they tried to return to the coast. But 
now the horrors of their situation were increased twofold. The 
attacks of the natives were renewed with extraordinary vigor. 
The moment the Spaniards removed their armor to seek the 
rest they sorely needed, the arrows of the Indians whizzed 
about their ears. If they tried to secure game or maize, they 
were certain to be shot at from behind some bush or tree. 



22 EARLY DISCOVERERS AND EXPLORERS. 

Finally, after desperate fighting and terrible suffering, they 
reached the sea, where they managed to build frail boats, in 
which they set sail for one of the Spanish colonies. But these 
boats were either lost at sea or dashed ashore ; so that of the 
five hundred men who started out on this fatal expedition, 
but four — among whom was Cabeza de Vaca — ever lived to 
return to Spain. It is only just to say that if the Indians 
proved themselves vindictive and cruel, it was the Spaniards 
who set them the example, and were in every instance the 
aggressors. 

Notwithstanding the failure of Ponce de Leon and Narvaez 
to discover gold and silver in Florida, or the land north of the 
Gulf of ^lexico, such as had been found farther south, the 
Spanish adventurers were far from discouraged. Magellan hav- 
ing circumnavigated the globe — or at least one of his ships 
having done so — it began to dawn slowly on the minds of 
the Spaniards and the Portuguese, that instead of America 
being a part of the East Indies or Cathay, it was in reality 
a vast continent. 

The sole purpose of the adventurers was the acquisition of 
enormous wealth — to rival the exploits and plunderings of 
Cortes in Mexico and Pizarro in Peru. Among those who 
accompanied the latter in his merciless conquest was Hernando 
de Soto. He had returned to Spain with the large 
fortune he had secured as part of the Peruvian 
spoil. Ambitious to achieve glory and greatness equal to that 
of his former commander, he requested the emperor, Charles 
v., to grant him a commission to explore and form settlements 
in Florida. His request was granted, and he started out with 
an expedition consisting of nearly a thousand men, a few 
women, and some priests. He took with him also a large 
number of hogs and horses. In order that he should have 
little difficulty in obtaining supplies, the Emperor made him 
governor of Cuba. 

The expedition sailed from Havana, in the spring of 1539, 
and landed at Tampa Bay. De Soto boldly plunged into the 



DE SOTO. 23 

interior, as Narvaez had done eleven years before, and spent 
the summer in a vain search for gold and silver. He wintered 
near Appalachee Bay. Obtaining fresh supplies from Cuba, 
he started forward again in the spring of 1540. 
Everywhere in his wanderin2:s he treated the na- ^P^dition 

. , 1 ; . , *° Florida. 

tives with extreme cruelty, oftentimes chaining the 
captives, two by two, by their necks, and compelling them to 
perform the services of beasts of burden. Sometimes his 
soldiers amused themselves by tying prisoners to trees, and 
shooting at them as targets. An Indian queen had treated 
them with kindness, furnished them with food, and bestowed 
quantities of pearls on their leader ; and as a reward they 
made her a captive, and her people slaves. But she man- 
aged to elude their vigilance and escape to the woods, taking 
with her a box of pearls. 

It would be futile to follow De Soto in his various wander- 
ings through Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas; 
suffice it to say that the great event of the expedition was the 
discovery of the Mississippi River in 1541. Worn 
out with anxiety, fatigue, and disappointment, De '^'^^^^^^^y 
Soto died, and was buried in the waters of the Mississippi, 
great river he had discovered. Shortly afterwards 
what remained of his force constructed rude boats, and floated 
down the Mississippi, and finally, after much toil and many 
privations, reached a Spanish settlement. 



CHAPTER IV 



Verrazano. 



FRENCH EXPLORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES. 

" Merrily, merrily, goes the bark 

On a breeze from the northward free ; 
So shoots through the morning sky the lark. 
Or the swan through the summer sea."' 

While Spain and Portugal were planting colonies in the 
New World, France and England seemed indifferent to what 
was then termed the right of Christian discovery. But Fran- 
cis I. of France was resolved to obtain a share of the wealth 
and glory already secured by his southern neighbors. Ac- 
cordingly, an expedition consisting of four vessels 
was fitted out, and set sail from some port of Brit- 
tany, under the command of Verrazano, a native of Florence. 

And here it may be said, in passing, 
that the three navigators who gave 
the greater part of the New World 
to Spain, France, and England, were 
Italians ; and yet Italy reaped no 
advantage from the ability of her 
great men. 

Verrazano, in 1523, sailed almost 
due west from the Madeiras, and 
struck the continent at the coast 
of North Carolina. Then sailing 
toward the south for some time, 
he changed his course toward the 
north, and explored the country for a distance of six hundred 
miles, probably entering New York Bay, and stop- 
ping for several days in the harbor of Newport. 
He virtually sailed over the same waters that the Cabots had 
sailed a quarter of a century before. He called the country 

24 




Verrazano. 



New France. 



VERRAZAiXO AND C ARTIER. 



25 



New France. Verrazano deserves credit as being the first 
of the navigators to arrive at a tolerably correct notion of 
the size of the earth, thus dispelling the delusion which had 
filled the mind of the great Columbus and of his immediate 
successors, that the New World was only a part of the East 
Indies. 

Ten years had passed away since the voyages and explora- 
tions of Verrazano, and yet nothing had been done toward the 
establishment of a colony to aid the fishermen of Brittany. 
Chabot, the admiral, represented to the King of France the ad- 
vantages of a plantation on the island of Newfoundland, and 
prevailed upon him to issue a commission to Jacques Cartier 
of St. INIalo to explore the northern part of the American con- 
tinent for the purpose of finding a place suitable for a colony. 

In pursuance of this object, Car- 
tier sailed out of his native town 
in the spring of 1534, with two 
small ships, each of sixty tons, and 
one hundred and twenty-two men. 
Arriving at Newfoundland, he ex- 
plored its bays and harbors; and 
then sailing along the coast of 
Labrador, and finding the country 



barren and inhospitable to such an 
extent that he called it the '"Land 




Cartier. 



of Cain," he changed his course 

toward the south, and entered a pleasant bay, which, on ac- 
count of its heat, he named the Bay of Chaleur. Unable to 
find a passasfe out of it, he sailed eastward along 

'- ^ ' ^ * Cartier. 

the coast until he reached the Bay of Gaspe, where 
he landed, and took formal possession of the country for the 
King of France. He established such friendly relations with 
the Indians, that he induced an old chief to permit two of his 
sons to accompany him on his homeward voyage. 

The most important result of this expedition was the dis- 
covery of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the great river of the 



26 FRENCH EXPLORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES. 

same name. In 1535 Cartier commanded a second expedition 
to explore the lands already discovered. Arriving at New- 
foundland, and satisfying himself that it was not suitable for 
a colony, he entered the river St. Lawrence, in 
Discovery ^i^j^.}-^ j^g discovcrcd scvcral islands thickly in- 

of the St. . . . •' ^ 

Lawrence, habited with Indians, whom he found very friendly. 
The old chief's two sons whom he brought back 
with him from France gave the natives glowing accounts of 
the greatness and wealth of that country ; and acting as inter- 
preters, they assisted Cartier in establishing a trade by which 
the French obtained food and furs in exchange for beads, look- 
ing-glasses, knives, axes, and other things of little value. He 
anchored his two ships at the mouth of the St. Croix, and then 
started to explore the St. Lawrence in his small boats. He 
reached the Indian village of Hochelaga, consisting of fifty 
huts surrounded by a triple row of palisades, where he was 
received by the King and a thousand of his subjects .with 
every manifestation of welcome. This village was 

oun \nz o ^_^^ ^.^^ ^^ ^^^ present city of Montreal. It received 
its name from a high hill which Cartier named Mont 
Royal, which commanded a magnificent view of the surround- 
ing country. It was on this voyage that the French found the 
natives smoking the tobacco leaf. Its odor at first was very 
disagreeable to the Europeans. 

In midwinter Cartier's ships were frost-bound, and buried in 
four feet of snow. The weather was much colder than his 
men had ever before encountered ; and to add to their mis- 
eries, the scurvy broke out among them. Cartier, who had 
escaped the malady, learned from a friendly Indian that a 
decoction of the leaves of a certain tree was a sovereign 
remedy for the disease. This he applied with such excellent 
results that in six days the sick were restored to health. At 
the last, when about to return to St. Malo, notwithstanding all 
the friendship shown by the Indians, Cartier was guilty of an 
act of the basest treachery. He invited the old chief and ten 
other Indians on board his vessel, and repaid their kindness 



ROBERVAL AND C ARTIER. 2^ 

by seizing and confining them, and carrying them off to France, 
where he arrived in the summer of 1536. 

The exaggerated accounts brought to France by Cartier 
made so little impression on the court that it was not until four 
years after his return from his second voyage that the King 
granted a commission to Jean Francois de la Roque, Lord 
of Roberval, creating him lieutenant governor of 
Canada and Hochelaga. Cartier was made com- ° ^^''^. 

^ _ _ and Cartier. 

mander of the ships, with the rank of chief pilot. 
Under positive orders from the King, Cartier sailed from the 
port of St. Malo in May, 1540, leaving Roberval to com- 
plete his preparations for the colony. 

After a tedious and stormy passage he reached the harbor 
of St. Croix ; and the first thing the natives asked was, " What 
has become of our countrymen whom you kidnapped on your 
previous voyage ? " Cartier replied with a falsehood, for they 
were all dead. He said that the chief had died, but that the 
others had become great lords, had married, and refused to 
return. Although the Indians seemed satisfied, it was not long 
before mutual distrust arose between them and the French. 
Cartier anchored three of his vessels within four miles of the 
St. Croix, and sent two others home to inform the King of what 
he had accomplished. 

There is no exact information as to how he spent the winter. 
In the spring, not having heard from Roberval, and thinking 
that he was left there to perish, he made up his mind to return 
to France. Accordingly, he weighed anchor and sailed to New- 
foundland, where he met Roberval with three ships and two 
hundred immigrants, with whom he intended to found a col- 
ony. Roberval ordered Cartier to return ; but the latter quietly 
disobeyed, and privately slipped away at night, and returned to 
France. Roberval passed the winter in Canada, and suffered 
greatly from scurvy and want of provisions. The colony was 
a complete failure, and of Roberval himself little is known. 
The last account is that, in 1549, he sailed with his brother on 
a voyage of discovery, and never returned. 



2S FREiXCH EXPLORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES. 

These expeditions ended all attempts on the part of France 
for half a century to establish a colony in North America. 
However, they were productive of one substantial benefit: 
they gave that country a claim to all the lands bordering the 
river St. Lawrence. 

In 1562 Coligny, the lord admiral of France, sent out from 
Havre two ships, under the command of Jean Ribault, to ex- 
plore the American coast, with the view of plant- 

Ribault. 7 . 

ing a colony of Huguenots somewhere in the New 
World. He reached the coast of Florida in April, at the 
mouth of the river St. Johns, and, changing his course towards 
the north, he entered the beautiful harbor of Port Royal, 
where he determined to plant the colony. Notwithstanding 
the brutal treatment that the natives received at the hands of 
the Spaniards, they hailed the arrival of the French with every 
manifestation of pleasure. And it may be stated, as worthy of 
note, that in general the French treated the Indians with a hu- 
manity strongly in contrast wdth the cruelty of the Spaniards. 
Leaving thirty men behind him, Ribault returned to France 
to give an account of his expedition, and to seek additional 
supplies for the colony. But owing to civil war in the mother 
country no aid could be obtained ; and therefore the little band 
at Port Royal were left to their own resources. 

Although the country abounded in game, and the waters in 
fish, they were too careless or indolent to secure and preserve 
a supply. They became demoralized by the mania for sudden 
wealth. Instead of planting corn, they searched for gold ; 
and therefore, when the winter set in they found themselves 
in a starving condition, entirely dependent on the friendly 
natives, who had scarcely enough food for their own use. Day 
after day they scanned the horizon in search of the ships that 
never gladdened their sight. Despondent and insubordinate, 
they murdered their captain, and elected another in his stead, 
and then commenced to construct a vessel out of such 
wTetched materials as were at hand, to carry them back to 
their native land. 



LA UDONNlkRE. 



29 



When all was ready they started on the most foolish voyage, 
perhaps, ever undertaken by man. The sails were made of 
their shirts and sheets, and the ropes were the handiwork 
of the Indians. They were ill supplied with food; and when 
their sufferings on the broad ocean became intolerable, they 
preserved their lives in a manner too horrible to relate. At 
the point of death they were picked up by an English vessel. 
The weakest of their number were sent to France ; the re- 
mainder were detained as prisoners. 

In 1564 Coligny fitted out a second expedition, which sailed 
to Florida under the command of Captain Laudonniere, who 
had accompanied Ribault in his first voyage. When 
his three ships entered the river St. Johns, the na- ^udon- 

... niere. 

tives, as on the former occasion, hailed the arrival 
of the French with delight. After an examination of the coast, 
Laudonniere resolved to abandon Port Royal as a place of set- 
tlement, and to select a site on the St. Johns as more suitable 
in every way to supply the wants of his people. Here he built 
a fort, which he named Fort Caroline, in honor of the King, 
Charles IX. But he could not prevail on his men to till the 
soil. They came in search of gold, and gold they must have. 
They were constantly deceived and disappointed by crafty In- 
dians, who told them that gold and silver and precious stones 
were to be found farther inland among the mountains. 

Laudonniere experienced great difficulty in controlling his 
men ; and in his attempts to maintain discipline he incurred 
their animosity to such an extent that they formed conspiracies 
to assassinate him. At length they stole four of his vessels, 
made him a prisoner, and, while at their mercy, compelled 
him to sign them a roving commission as pirates. They met, 
however, the fate they deserved. Three of their vessels fell 
into the hands of the Spaniards, who of course showed them 
little mercy; the fourth returned to Fort Caroline with some 
of the ringleaders, whom Laudonniere instantly put to death. 
The usual consequence of indolence and improvidence overtook 
them. They suffered for want of food. The Indians began 



30 FRENCH EXPLORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES. 

to despise them for their laziness. Driven ahnost to despair, 
the mutinous colonists forced their commander, against his 
better judgment, to seize a native chief and hold him as a 
hostage, to compel his people to provide them with corn. 

This inexcusable act of treachery converted the friendly 
Indians into implacable enemies, and naturally failed to 
accomplish the purpose intended. Again, as in the previous 
expedition, all eyes were turned on the sea in the hope of per- 
ceiving ships carrying provisions from France. Finally a fleet 
hove in sight ; but it was an English fleet, under the command 
of the celebrated Sir John Hawkins, who generously supplied 
their wants, and then sailed away to England. 

In 1565 Laudonniere was superseded in the command by 
Ribault. This change of officers was caused by false or dis- 
torted reports carried to Coligny. The second ex- 

Ribauit s pedition consisted of seven ships : and when it 

second ^ ^ ' 

voyage, reached the mouth of the St. Johns, and when 
Ribault had ascertained the true condition of af- 
fairs, he generously offered to retain Laudonniere in command 
of Fort Caroline; but the latter declined the offer, preferring 
to obey orders, return to France, and meet his accusers face to 
face. But the appearance of a Spanish fleet under Menendez 
compelled the deposed captain to remain at his post at least 
for the time being. The Spaniard claimed Florida as the 
rightful property of his king. He considered the French as 
invaders ; he sought revenge for the piracies of Laudonniere's 
mutineers, and he desired to driv the Lutherans out of the 
country. By the exercise of cun. ing and military skill, Me- 
nendez captured Fort Caroline, ai d all who failed to escape 
to the woods he put to the sword. 

Among those who escaped was Laudonniere, who finally 
reached his native land. Ribault was less fortu- 
Founding ^i^X^ \ for he and most of his followers were en- 
Augustine trapped and cruelly murdered. This was the 
disastrous termination of French attempts to col- 
onize the southern portion of the North American continent. 



DE GOURGUES. 3 I 

Menendez took formal possession of Florida in the name of 
the King of Spain, and afterwards established the first perma- 
nent colony within the present limits of the United States, 
which he named St. Augustine. 

Not long, however, did the cruelty of Menendez remain un- 
punished. De Gourgues, a trained French soldier of fortune, 
had been, some time previously, captured by the 
Spaniards and sent to the p^alleys. Burnin": with a ^ ^ 

^ . . Gourgues. 

desire to avenge his own wrongs, as well as the 
murder of his countrymen, he sold his estates, and borrowed 
money to fit out an expedition bound for the coast of Africa. 
Reaching the coast of Guinea, he secured a cargo of negroes, 
which he disposed of in the West Indies. Having carefully 
kept his real purpose a secret until all his preparations had 
been thoroughly made, he assembled his men, repeated the 
story of the cruel murder of their countrymen, and asked them 
if they were willing to take vengeance on the Spaniards. 

Of course there was but one answer to this appeal. They 
desired to be led instantly to the Spanish settlement, and De 
Gourgues had great difficulty in restraining their impatience. 
In the spring of 1568, he sailed, first, to the mouth of the St, 
John, and then, in order to deceive the enemy, he changed his 
course and stood out to sea. Once more he altered his course, 
and returned to the coast some miles farther north. 
Here he landed, and formed an alliance with the ^^"^"dez's 
Indians, who detested the Spaniards. With his avenged. 
allies, he surprised the fort, routed its defenders, 
and put them to the sword. With a cunning and military skill 
quite equal to that of Menendez, he captured another fort 
named St. Matthew, and hanged its garrison on the same trees 
on which the Spaniards had hanged the Frenchmen a short 
time before. De Gourgues managed to escape the vengeance 
of the King of Spain, but was obliged to remain in conceal- 
ment for fear Charles IX. might hand him over to his implaca- 
ble enemies. 



CHAPTER V. 

ENGLISH NAVIGATORS AND EXPLORERS. 

" Ve mariners of England ! 

That guard our native seas, 
Whose flag has braved a thousand years 
The battle and the breeze."' 

With the voyages and explorations of the Cabots the efforts 
of Henry VII. of England to discover a short route to the East 
Indies terminated ; not for lack of interest, it may be assumed, 
but because he had been kept very busy maintaining his ques- 
tionable right to the English throne. Besides, gold had hot 
been discovered, as in Peru and Mexico, in the two voyages 
fitted out under his patronage ; and the King was not the man 
to expend his money without a quick and profitable return. It 
is difficult otherwise to account for the apathy of a hardy and 
adventurous people noted for their skill and courage on the sea. 
The nation destined to subdue and colonize the greater part 
of the North American continent was slow, feeble, and uncer- 
tain in its early expeditions. In 1527 — thirty years 
Revival of ^£^gj- ^j^g voyages of the Cabots — Henry VUl. 
^ *^ had been convinced that a short route to China 

explora- 
tions, and Japan could be discovered by way of the north- 
west. Accordingly, two vessels were fitted out, and 
sailed as far as Newfoundland. One of them foundered, and 
the other accomplished nothing. 

Nine years after this fruitless expedition, two ships, the 
Trinity and Minion, containing one hundred and ten men, 
arrived at Newfoundland, where their crew spent the summer. 
But no effort was made to explore the coast ; and, provisions 
falling short, they had recourse to cannibalism in order to 
preserve their lives. At this critical moment a well-stored 
French ship approached the island, which the English seized 



VVILLOUGHBY AND FROBISHER. 33 

by fraud or force, and then they sailed away to England, 
leaving: the Frenchmen to starve on a barren coast. In 
some way, however, the latter managed to survive, and on 
their return, were recompensed by the King for their losses 
and sufferings ; but the heartless robbers were never punished 
for their crime. 

These two feeble expeditions dampened the ardor of the 
English for a period of seventeen years ; and not until Sebas- 
tian Cabot, now an old man past seventy, revived 
their hopes of a northern passage to the East, was ^ino^ghby. 
any attempt made to rival the enterprise of their 
European neighbors. In 1553, in the reign of Edward VI., an 
expedition was sent out under the command of Sir Hugh Wil- 
loughby, from which great things were anticipated ; but it came 
to an unfortunate end. Sir Hugh and his men were ice-bound 
and frozen to death. Two years afterwards they were found in 
this condition by some Russian fishermen. One of the vessels 
parted company from the others, and reached Archangel. Chan- 
cellor, the captain, traveled to Moscow, and opened commercial 
relations with the Russians, which was the only benefit obtained 
from this costly expedition. 

Twenty-three years had passed away before another attempt 
w^as made to discover that short route to Cathay which had 
bafBed every navigator from Columbus to Wil- 
loughby. At this period, 1576, the throne of Eng- pj-^^jsi^gr 
land was occupied by Elizabeth, one of the most 
able and enlightened sovereigns that ever ruled a brave people. 
Whatever may have been her defects of character as a w^oman, 
her capacity and energy as a monarch have never been dis- 
puted. Her reign was the golden age of literature — the age 
of Shakespeare, Spenser, Bacon, and Raleigh ; the age of 
courageous soldiers and daring navigators. 

Among the host of poets, dramatists, scholars, statesmen, 
who adorned her reign, the half-brothers Raleigh and Gilbert 
may be mentioned as not the least distinguished. Their writ- 
ings and speeches revived the ardor of the nation for maritime 

HUNT. U.S. HIST. — 3 



34 ENGLISH NAVIGATORS AND EXPLORERS. 

adventure. In 1576 Martin Frobisher, a celebrated navigator, 
made a voyage, it is supposed to Greenland, but it was totally 
barren of results. He subsequently made two other voyages, 
still in search of the short route to the East Indies. He passed 
through the straits which bear his name, and fancied that 
Cumberland Island was a part of the mainland of Asia. He 
brought back with him a stone which some of the ignorant 
chemists of the time said contained gold. This aroused the 
cupidity of some merchants, who fitted out a fleet of fifteen 
ships, and sent it out under Frobisher's command to carry 
cargoes of the precious metal to England. It is needless to 
say that no gold was found, and that the expedition was a 
failure. 

In the years 1585, 1586, and 1587, Sir John Davis made three 

voyages to the frozen regions of North America. In the last 

of these voyages he reached to 73° of latitude, 

^^ " entered the straits still known by his name, and 

Davis. _ -^ ' 

satisfied himself that if he could cut his way through 
the ice the problem of the northwest passage would be solved. 
Sir John was correct in his conclusion, for the passage by that 
route to Asia was actually accomplished by a British navigator 
in the middle of the nineteenth century. 

Hitherto every voyage made and every expedition fitted out 
by the English, with the exception of that of Cabot, had been 
for the sole purpose of discovering a shorter route to the East 
Indies. The Spaniards, starting out with the same object in 
view, had prosecuted it for years, until they found in Mexico 
and Peru riches rivaling, if not surpassing, those of the far- 
famed Cathay. If settlements were made by the Spaniards, 
• they were not made with the honest intention of 
^*'' colonization, but for the fell purpose of spoliation 

Humphrey 

Gilbert. and robbery. 

It was reserved, however, for an enlightened 
Englishman, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, to undertake the estab- 
lishment of a permanent colony on the shores of the New 
World ; and although he failed in the attempt, and lost his 



RIVAL CLAIMS. 



35 




life in the cause, he deserves credit for preparing the way 
for those settlements which gave the best part of the North 
American continent to the Eng- 
lish-speaking people. With the 
quick and keen understanding of 
a statesman, he perceived that the 
"fertile soil and teeming woods" 
of America, with its semi-tropi- 
cal and temperate climate, would 
enrich the mother country, and 
extend the power of the English 
monarchy. ' 

In 1578 Gilbert received from 
Elizabeth the usual charter, which Gilbert 

recognized the " right of Christian 

discovery " to seize and possess all lands inhabited by pagans 
and barbarians, provided some other Christian nation was not 
already in possession. The French had taken all 
the country watered by the river St. Lawrence ; the ^^^ 
Spaniards, then a powerful nation, claimed Florida Europeans, 
and the lands bordering the Gulf of Mexico ; and 
England, by right of Cabot's explorations and discoveries, was 
entitled to the fairest part of North America — that now occu- 
pied by the great republic of the United States. 

The greedy Spaniard in search of gold obtained possession 
of the tropic regions ; the French, beguiled by a great river, 
secured the frozen region of the north ; but it was reserved for 
the English, the greatest of all colonizers, to plant themselves 
firmly on the vast territory lying between both extremes — a 
territory unsurpassed in natural resources. 

It was not without great difficulty that Sir Humphrey Gil- 
bert started on his first voyage. Owing to various causes this 
expedition proved a failure. In June, 1583, he again set sail 
for the American continent with an expedition consisting of 
five ships and a hundred and sixty men, many of whom were 
mechanics, well adapted for colonists. He had hardly started 



36 ENGLISH NAVIGATORS AND EXPLORERS. 

when the largest of his vessels, the Raleigh, deserted, because, 
it is said, pestilence had broken out among the crew. 

Arriving at St. Johns, Newfoundland, he read to the men 
his commission from the Queen. His intention was not to 
remain here longer than necessary to obtain supplies and 
make repairs. The delay, however, was fatal to the expedi- 
tion. Many of his crew had been criminals and pirates, 
and desertions were almost of daily occurrence. He made 
a brave effort to reach the land north of Florida, where he 
intended to plant his colony; but the season being far ad- 
vanced, storms and headwinds baffled all his endeavors, and 
compelled him, after the loss of one of his vessels, to return 
to Newfoundland. As winter approached, provisions became 
scarce; so he was obliged to return to England without having 
accomplished anything of real value. 

He caused reports to be circulated about the discovery of a 
great silver mine, probably with the view of inducing credulous 
people to join, or subscribe money for, another expedition. 
Perhaps he believed in the mine himself. Be that as it may, in 
1583 Sir Humphrey started out on another voyage, choosing 
to sail in the smallest of his vessels — a boat of ten tons ! The 
weather was unusually stormy; and when expostu- 
7'^M^,^^ lated with on account of the great dans^er he ran, 

of Gilbert. " "-^ 

he replied that he would ask no man to encounter 
risks that he was unwilling to encounter himself, and that " he 
was as near to heaven by sea as by land." One dark, tem- 
pestuous night the little vessel foundered, and all on board 

perished. This was a sad termination of Sir Hum- 
Raieigh, phrey Gilbert's career. 
"Bari^ow. ^" ^5^4 ^^^ Walter Raleigh, a great favorite 

of Queen Elizabeth, obtained a new charter, con- 
ferring greater powers than had been granted to his half- 
brother. He sent out two ships, under the command of two 
experienced navigators, Amidas and Barlow, for the purpose 
of selecting a suitable place for the establishment of a colony. 
After a long and tedious voyage the two vessels reached the 



GRENVILLE. 



37 



'\ 




American coast in the latitude of North Carolina ; and, the 
commanders being pleased with the climate and the appear- 
ance of the country, en- 
tered Pamlico Sound, in 
which they cast anchor. 
Here they were visited by 
the natives, who treated 
the English with great 
kindness and hospitality. 
Soon afterwards, having 
accomplished the object 
of their voyage, they re- 
turned to England, and 
gave such glowing ac- 
counts of the country they 
had visited, that Raleigh 
obtained permission to 

name it Virginia, in honor Raleigh. 

of the virgin queen. 

In the spring of 1585 Sir Walter Raleigh fitted out a second 
expedition, consisting of seven ships and about one hundred 
men, under the command of Sir Richard Grenville. Ralph 
Lane was appointed governor of the proposed colony. On 
the passage to i\merica. w^hich lasted nearly three months, 
the English attacked and despoiled several of the 
Spanish galleons carrvino; rich treasures from ^^^ Richard 

. , 1 . , .1. Grenville. 

Mexico and Peru to their enemy, Philip II. 
Finally Grenville reached the coast near Cape Fear, and 
soon afterwards landed with a chosen band, and penetrated 
the country for a considerable distance. A dispute having 
arisen with the friendly Indians about an act of theft, he burnt 
one of their villages, and destroyed their corn. Having first 
started the natives on the w^arpath by this act of wanton cru- 
elty, Grenville returned to England with a portion of the fleet. 
Lane was Grenville's worthy successor; for he, too, com- 
menced despoiling and murdering the Indians. It is needless 



38 ENGLISH NAVIGATORS AND EXPLORERS. 

to narrate the cruelties perpetrated by the English in their 
efforts to compel the natives to supply them with food. Gren- 
ville did not return with supplies, and what was left of the ex- 
pedition was thoroughly discouraged, and returned to England. 
It failed, as it deserved ; for the crews were little better than 
pirates. The inhuman treatment of the Indians was without 
excuse, and has left an indelible stain on the leaders of the 
expedition. Perhaps the most remarkable event of Grenville's 
expedition was the introduction of tobacco into England. 

Again, in 1587, Raleigh fitted out a third expedition, consist- 
ing of a hundred and fifty men and some women. John White 

was appointed governor, and Simon Ferdinando ad- 

Raieigh s j^ij-^|_ From the very beginning of the voyage the 

dition. two leaders quarreled ; and this lack of harmony 

caused the expedition to prove a failure. Raleigh's 
orders to White were first to seek the fifteen men whom Gren- 
ville had left behind when he returned to England, and then to 
enter Chesapeake Bay, and select a site suitable for a colony. 
The fifteen men were not found for the simple reason that they 
had been murdered by the Indians in retaliation for the crimes 
of Grenville and Lane. 

On the arrival of White the feud between the natives and 
the English was renewed with redoubled fury ; and this fact, 
combined with the enmity that existed between the governor 

and the admiral, compelled the former to return 

Captain John . . 

White, t^ England to seek assistance. But \a lute was 
unable to procure succor, owing to the attempted 
invasion of England by the celebrated Spanish x'\rmada, which 
caused Elizabeth to impress every ship, large and small, into 
the service of the government. It was three years before 
White was able to reach the coast of Virginia ; and when he 
sought his colonists, they could not be found. Doubtless they 
had been destroyed by the vindictive Indians whom they had 
wantonly provoked. It was, however, subsequently rumored 
that some of them had escaped, and established themselves in 
the mountains ; but the fact was never proved. Raleigh made 



GOSNOLD AND PRING. 39 

several attempts to discover these lost colonists, but without 
success. Elizabeth died in 1603, and her successor, deficient 
in the courage which had distinguished the Queen, feared the 
Spaniard and hated Raleigh ; and hence he ceased all further 
attempts at colonizing Virginia. 

It will be borne in mind that Virginia included all the terri- 
tory between Florida and Maine, and that some of the most 
enlightened statesmen of England were determined to plant a 
permanent colony on the American coast. Accordingly, Bar- 
tholomew Gosnold was sent out in 1602 at the head of a 
feeble band of colonists. 

He sailed along the sandy shore of Cape Cod, named a 
small island Marthas Vineyard (the name was subsequently 
transferred to the larger island, which it now bears), entered 
Buzzards Bay, and selected a site for his colony. 
Here, too, he found the natives friendly, as they °^° 
had been everywhere to the first European visit- 
ors. They came to Gosnold in their canoes, bringing furs, 
wampum, tobacco, and provisions. As usual, the colonists re- 
fused to plant crops for their support, and as their stores were 
running short, and as they could not rely on the supplies fur- 
nished by the Indians, they resolved to return to England. The 
next year some merchants of Bristol sent out a trading expe- 
dition consisting of two small vessels under the command of 
Martin Bring. But there was no attempt at colonization. Bring 
sailed along the coast of Maine, followed in the track of Gos- 
nold, traded with the Indians, returned in six months, and 
gave a good account of the new country. 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 

" Lb, the poor Indian ! whose untutored mind 
Sees God in clouds, or hears him in the wind." 

Having narrated the discoveries, explorations, and attempts 
at colonization in North America by the Spaniards, French, 
and English, it may be well to take a brief glance at the inhab- 
itants whom the Europeans were trying to supplant. 

When first seen by the white 
man, the North American Indian 
was a low-grade savage whose 
weapons and domestic utensils 
were rudely constructed of stone. 
He had no knowledge of the use 
of iron. His canoe was the hol- 
lowed-out trunk of a tree. He was 
almost ignorant of agriculture, and 
lived chiefly by hunting and fish- 
ing. A small amount of maize 
was raised, mainly by the labor of 
his wife. His dwelling was con- 
structed of the flimsiest material, 
and in the rudest manner. He 
was governed by a chief chosen for 
his cunning in council or his brav- 
ery in war. His want of foresight was such that although 
the waters abounded with fish, and the forests with game, and 
although the soil and climate were capable of producing the 
richest crops of corn, he was often reduced during the winter 
months to the verge of starvation. 

Under such conditions of living his family was small, rarely 
consisting of more than a wife and a couple of children. He 

40 




American Indian. 



MOUND BUILDERS. 4 1 

had a vague notion of a Supreme Being, whom he called the 
Great Spirit, and of a future state. He was kind and hospit- 
able to his friends, fierce and vindictive to his foes. 

On every occasion, from Columbus to the English attempt at 
colonization, he hailed the first appearance of the European 
with delight, and treated him with kindness. He supplied the 
wants of the white man with alacrity, and not infrequently 
shared with him his scanty supply of maize ; and not until the 
European in every instance betrayed his confidence, stole his 
property, enslaved his person, and in some cases chased him 
with bloodhounds, did he take up arms against his oppressor, 
and avenge the wrongs inflicted on his race. 

His complexion and features indicate that he is sprung from 
a people that formerly inhabited the east of Asia ; but when or 
how he reached the American continent will never be known, 
for even tradition fails to furnish any account of his origin. 

It is certain that the Indians were preceded on this con- 
tinent by a superior and peculiar people named 
Mound Builders, because of a great number of cu- „^., °"" 

' ^ Builders. 

rious mounds which they built in several of the 

Western States, particularly in Ohio, Wisconsin, Missouri, and 

in the valley of the Mississippi. 

The construction of these mounds proved that they under- 
stood the science of geometry and civil engineering, and were 
familiar with the use of mathematical instruments. Their pot- 
tery, their domestic utensils, and their weapons of war, while 
manifesting great skill, show that they had not yet learned the 
use of iron. However, they had advanced beyond the stone 
age, for they manufactured many articles out of copper. They 
worked the copper mines of Lake Superior, and transported 
great quantities of the ore hundreds of miles overland, and down 
the Mississippi. To accomplish this they must have employed 
a great number of workmen and constructed vessels of consid- 
erable size. All these things prove that the Mound Builders 
had reached a high degree of civilization. What became of 
them is a mere matter of conjecture. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 

" The lust of gold succeeds the lust of conquests, 
The lust of gold, unfeeling and remorseless. 
The last corruption of degenerate man." 

James I., the successor of Elizabeth, was said to be " the 
wisest fool in Christendom." He was scholarly, pedantic, 
timid, and jealous of his " divine right " to misgovern the peo- 
ple. With the view of civilizing his Highland countrymen in 
Scotland, he had established among them respectable traders, 
who, it is needless to say, failed in their attempt. 

With a similar object in view as regards the Indians, and also 
for the purpose of extending the commerce and power of Eng- 
land, he granted letters patent, in 1606, to Sir 
The London Thomas Gatcs, Sir George Somers, Richard Hak- 
pi mouth ^^^y^' ^^^ their associates, granting them the terri- 
Company. tory lying on the seacoast between the thirty-fourth 
and forty-fifth degrees of north latitude. Two dis- 
tinct companies were formed, one in London, the other in 
Plymouth. 

To the London Company was granted the land extending 
from the thirty-fourth degree to the forty-first ; and the Plym- 
outh Company received the land from the thirty-eighth degree 
to the forty-fifth. So that the territories of the two compa- 
nies overlapped. The main purposes of the patentees were 
to form settlements and to convert the Indians to Christi- 
anity. The charter guaranteed to the settlers and their chil- 
dren all the rights of Englishmen, gave them power to carry 
on trade with other nations, and to open and work mines for 
their own profit. 

The supreme power was vested in a board resident in Eng- 
land, and the subordinate jurisdiction devolved on a colonial 

42 



COL ONY AT J A MES TO WN. 43 

council, both nominated by, and subject to, the instructions of 
the King. The council consisted of thirteen members, who had 
the right to choose their own president, and to fill vacancies 
caused by death or resignation. The religion of the colonists 
was to be that of the Established Church of England. Trial by 
jury was to be allowed only for capital crimes ; minor offenses 
were to be tried by the president and council. 

In December, 1607, a fleet of three ships, under the command 
of Captain Christopher Newport, started for the coast of Vir- 
ginia. The expedition consisted of a hundred and 
five men, amon^ whom were Bartholomew Gosnold, ^^ 

. ^ . , Christopher 

Edward Wingfield, Ratcliffe, and Captain John Newport. 
Smith, an adventurous soldier who had distinguished 
himself fighting against the Turks. The majority of the colo- 
nists were poor gentlemen, anxious to retrieve their broken 
fortunes. 

Unfortunately they consumed a great deal of their provisions 
by trading in the West Indies. It was four months before 
they reached the coast of Virginia. But, worse still, they 
sailed under sealed orders, which were not to be opened 
until they had reached their destination. Quarrels broke out 
among the principal men for want of a chief to whose authority 
all must submit; and Captain John Smith was put under 
restraint because he clamored against the delay. 
The fleet finally reached Chesapeake Bay; and Colony at 
having carefully explored the coast, the council se- ^g 
lected the present site of Jamestown for their set- 
tlement, and chose Edward Wingfield as their president. Here 
they built a fort, and fortified themselves against the Indians. 

At first the natives treated the colonists with great kindness, 
giving them maize and other provisions in exchange for colored 
.beads and toys. But this friendly feeling did not continue 
very long. For some reason, not explained — but most prob- 
ably for some unprovoked aggression — the Indians became 
hostile. They attacked the camp, wounded some of the men, 
and killed a boy. 



44 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 



The gentlemen refused to work, because it was beneath their 

dignity; the mechanics sought gold; Wingfield was weak and 

indolent ; and altogether the colony was in a bad 

epositionof cQ^^(^i|;iQn and likely to die of starvation and pesti- 

Wingfield. ^ , ^ 

lence. They had landed in May, and yet in Sep- 
tember nearly half the colonists were dead, and among them 
the distinguished navigator, Gosnold. The want of food em- 
bittered the animosities of the leading men against Wingfield, 
who was deposed from the presidency, mainly by the efforts 
of Smith, and Ratcliffe was chosen to succeed him. 
Captain John jj^^ ^^^ president was no improvement on his 
predecessor ; and the management of affairs natu- 
rally fell into the hands of the able and energetic Smith, who 
established order and discipline among the men. He made 

several expeditions along the coast 
and up the rivers, chiefly for the 
purpose of trading with the Indi- 
ans and securing provisions to 
save his people from starvation. 

In exploring the Chickahominy, 
he was captured and brought be- 
fore the Indian King Powhatan, 
who ordered him to be put to 
death. It is said that, at the mo- 
ment of execution, he was saved 
by the intervention of Pocahontas, 
who threw herself on Smith's body, 
and begged her father, Powhatan, 
to spare his life. Soon after his re- 
turn to Jamestown, Smith was chosen president of the council ; 
and though he was unable to make the colonists work, his ad- 
ministration was successful in supplying them with food ob- 
tained from the natives. He deserves credit for preserving the 
infant colony from utter destruction. But his services soon 
came to an end ; he was injured by an explosion of gunpowder, 
and compelled to return to England to obtain surgical aid. 




John Smith. 



GOVERNMENT OF VIRGINIA. 45 

He was succeeded by George Percy, who proved himself as 
inefficient as Wingfield or RatcUffe. The men suffered so ter- 
ribly for want of provisions during the winter of 1610, that 
it was called "the starving time," During the three 

, , . . -Ill The starving 

years that the colony was ni existence, it had been ^.^^ 

reenforced to such an extent that it contained five 
hundred persons at the time of Smith's departure ; and yet on 
the arrival of Sir Thomas Gates, the newly appointed captain- 
general, he found but sixty alive. 

Gates found everything in ruins, and Jamestown a scene of 
desolation. The people were sick and emaciated from hunger, 
afraid to leave the blockhouse to find game in the 

r ,1 1 ^-1 T 1- Sir Thomas 

woods, and in constant terror of the hostile Indians ^^^^^ 
who lurked in the neighborhood, seeking an oppor- 
tunity to murder them. After a careful inspection of the state 
of affairs, Gates concluded that the best thing to do was to 
abandon Jamestown, and sail to Newfoundland, where he could 
obtain provisions and assistance from English vessels. 

But at this most critical moment Lord Delawarr arrived with 
three ships plentifully laden with stores. Gates surrendered 
his authority ; and the new governor assembled the 
people, and warned them against that pernicious j3ei°|^arr 
idleness which had almost caused their destruction. 
Although he brought food enough to last a year, he took 
measures to augment the supply by establishing peace with 
the Indians, and obtaining corn by trade, and not by plunder. 
The government of Lord Delawarr was good and wise. He 
restored order and discipline, and saved the colony from ruin. 
The state of his health, however, compelled him, after a ser- 
vice of one year, to return to England. 

In 161 1, the London Company sent out to Virginia two expe- 
ditions ; one under the command of Sir Thomas 

, Gates and 

Gates, and the other under Sir Ihomas Dale. j^^j^ 
They brought to the colony supplies of all kinds, 
and domestic animals. Dale was a man of superior ability. 
He gave to each man three acres of land, which he had to till 



46 SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 

for his own food, so that he should -no longer depend for sub- 
sistence on the public stores. This wise course had an excel- 
lent effect, and for the first time the colony began to prosper. 
Other towns were established, and industry and activity pre- 
vailed under the inspiring influence of individual gain caused 
by the profitable cultivation of tobacco. 

A system of very severe laws was enacted for the govern- 
ment of the settlers. Its pains and penalties were cruel. 
The crime of theft was punished with death ; the sin of 
blasphemy received a similar punishment ; and for the most 

venial offenses men were whipped or sent to the 
ilUr galleys. When the character of the first settlers 

is considered, many of them having been pirates, 
robbers, and discharged prisoners — discharged not on account 
of their innocence, but to be shipped as temporary slaves — it 
will be understood that these penalties were perhaps necessary 
to save the infant colony from chaos and dissolution. The 
ownership of land, the establishment of the rights of property, 
the cultivation of tobacco, for which there was great de- 
mand in England, and the termination of the " communistic " 
system, soon caused the colony of Virginia to increase and 
prosper. 

The inability or unwillingness of the broken-down gentlemen 
to work led to the introduction, first of temporary white, and 
afterwards of permanent black, slavery. A Dutch ship in 

1619 arrived at Jamestown with a cargo of negroes 
Introduction ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^f Guinea, which the planters were 

of slavery. , i i 

only too glad to purchase at almost any price. 
The Indians resembled the white gentlemen in one respect — 
they despised farm labor; and the bondmen imported from the 
mother country were freed after a period of service, and hence 
the docile negroes became invaluable to their owners, and on 
the produce of their unrewarded toil the planters grew rich 
and powerful. 

While the romantic story of the preservation of Captain 
John Smith by Pocahontas, the favorite daughter of Powhatan, 



PROSPERITY OF THE COLONY. 



47 



Pocahontas. 



is very doubtful, it is certain that she was married to John 
Rolfe, was taken to England, introduced at court, and received 
with great favor by the nobility and gentry as the 
daughter of an " Indian emperor." She died in 
a year from the time of her arrival, just as she was mak- 
ing preparations for her return to her 
native country. She left a son whose 
blood, it is claimed, flows through the 
veins of some of the first families of 
Virginia. 

Under the wise administration of Sir 
George Yeardley the colony prospered ; 
and through the efforts of Sir Edwin 
Sandys, twelve hundred and sixty-one 
persons were sent over from England, 
many of whom were estimable young 
women, who had no difficulty in finding 
suitable husbands. Thus, after many 

trials and difficulties, and not infrequently in danger of total 
extinction, was the Virginia colony founded on a permanent 
basis. 




Pocahontas. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK. 

What nature wants, commodious gold bestow; 

Trade it may help, society extend, 

But lures the pirate and corrupts the friend ; 

It raises armies in a nation's aid, 

But bribes a senate, and the land's betrayed." 



The vain pursuit of gold and the northwest passage had 
seriously retarded the settlement of North America for a 
period of more than a hundred years. But from the moment 
that statesmen became convinced that the precious metals 

could not be found in sufficient 
quantity to pay the cost of min- 
ing, and that a short route to the 
East Indies was impracticable, 
the settlements rapidly increased, 
chiefly owing to the emigration of 
a superior class of people. 

The attempt, however, to reach 
China and Japan by the north- 
west was not easily abandoned. 
The Dutch, who had recently 
thrown off the yoke of Spai^, had 
grown in a few years into a great 
maritime power, and established 
trading settlements in the east. Determined to obtain advan- 
tages, if possible, by discoveries in the west, they sent several 
expeditions to find a northeast passage ; but owing 
to the vast quantities of ice, they were unable to 
penetrate beyond Nova Zembla and Spitzbergen. 
In 1607 the Dutch sent an expedition under the command of 
Henry Hudson, an Englishman, to find the short route to 

48 




Hudson. 



Henry 
Hudson. 



DISCOVERY OF THE HUDSON. 49 

the East Indies ; but he, too, was blocked by the ice, and 
forced to return without having accomphshed anything. Again, 
in 1609, he was sent out in command of a vessel called the 
Half Moon ^ manned by sixteen or eighteen sailors, to explore 
the Arctic seas ; but when he reached the frozen regions of the 
north, his crew, partly Dutch and partly English, suffering in- 
tensely from the extreme cold, threatened to mutiny, and 
forced him to change his course towards the southwest. 
He reached the coast of Maine, where his disorderly sail- 
ors attacked and destroyed an Indian village. Departing in 
haste for fear of the natives whom they had wantonly pro- 
voked, Hudson directed his course towards the south, and 
sighted land at the entrance of Chesapeake Bay, almost 
within view of his countrymen settled at Jamestown. 

Once more changing his course, he sailed northward, follow- 
ing the line of the coast, and then made the great discovery 
with which his name will be forever connected. 
He discovered the Hudson, the beautiful queen of iscovery o 

' ^ the Hudson 

rivers. Still in search of the northwest passage, he River. 
explored the river as far as Albany. Here he sent 
out a boat's crew, who penetrated the river as far as the 
present site of the city of Troy. 

Soon afterwards Iludson sailed to England; but the English 
authorities would not permit him to proceed to Amsterdam. 
He then entered the service of the Muscovite Company. In 
1 610 he was sent on a voyage to the northwest, from which 
he never returned. His crew mutinied, and cast hmi adrift 
in an open boat, with a keg of water and a bag of biscuits, to 
|)erish amid the floating ice of Hudson Bay. Such was the 
sad fate of the discoverer of the Hudson River. 

In 1 6 14, five years after the discovery of the Hudson River, 
the Dutch established a trading post near the present site of 
Albany, and erected a fort on Manhattan Island. A charter 
was obtained from the States General, through the exertions 
of Adrian Block, by which the exclusive right to navigate the 
waters of the New World, and to carry on trade with the 

HUNT. U. S. HIST. —4 



50 SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK. 

Indians, was granted to certain merchants of Amsterdam. The 
Dutch did not seek for wealth in gold and silver mines, but 
in a profitable trade with the natives, by which they received 
valuable furs in exchange for mere trifles. 

Under this charter, which was only to continue for three 

years, no attempt was made at colonization. Trading posts 

were established on the North and South Rivers 

ra ing ,^^^^ Hutlsou and Delaware), and as far east as the 

posts. ^ _ /^ 

Connecticut. The necessities of the fur trade natu- 
rally led to friendly relations with the Indians. On the whole, 
the Dutch treated the natives very kindly and justly. 

At the expiration of the three years, the States General 
refused to grant a new charter. Having ascertained the 
immense value of the territory for commercial purposes, and 
taking a more comprehensive grasp of the situation, they 
resolved to establish a company similar to the great East India 
Company, which had already done so much in adding to the 
wealth and power of Holland. In 1622 the West India Com- 
pany was formed, and invested with almost unlimited powers 
over the territory lying between the fortieth and forty-fifth 
degrees of -north latitude, to which they now gave the name 
of New Netherland. They sent out a considerable number of 
colonists to form permanent" settlements, and a fleet of war 
vessels to protect them in case of necessity. Instead of 
isolated trading posts, settlements were established at Fort 
Orange (Albany), at ]\Ianhattan (New Amsterdam), 
range ^^^ Long Island, and the banks of the Delaware. 

and ^ ' 

Manhattan. The first govcmors under the West India charter 
were Captain May (after whom Cape May received 
its name), William Verhult, and Peter Minuit. It was Minuit 
who united the different settlements, and made New Amster- 
dam the seat of government. A strong fort was constructed 
at the southern extremity of Manhattan Island, within which 
houses were subsequently erected, and from which rich car- 
goes of furs were sent to Holland. Such was the beginning 
of the great city of New York. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 

" The love of liberty with Ufe is given, 
And life itself the inferior gift of heaven." 

A RELIGIOUS sect known as the Puritans had sprung up in 
England during the reigns of Edward VI., Mary, and Eliza- 
beth. They received this name because they de- 
sired a simpler and purer form of worship than puritans, 
that of the Established Church. When James VI. 
of Scotland mounted the English throne under the title of 
James I., the Puritans had grown into a numerous and zealous 
body, sternly opposed to the forms and ceremonies of the 
Anglican Church. 

The King, as already stated, was a scholarly pedant, cowardly 
and suspicious, a tenacious and ardent upholder of the so- 
called "divine right" of kings, and of the sanctity of the 
hierarchy, and, above all, weakly jealous of his own authority 
both as temporal and spiritual head of the nation. Hence he 
looked with disfavor on a sect which had separated itself from 
the church established by act of Parliament, and which was, 
in religion, at least, thoroughly democratic. 

Fearless in the cause of religious liberty, the Puritans calmly 
suffered persecution and spoliation rather than renounce the 
system of worship which was dearer than their lives. " They 
feared God so much that they had little fear of man." Some 
of them had already taken refuge in Holland, and 
others, after much difficulty, followed them, in order grr^^.uJ°J|^ 
to enjoy that freedom denied them in their own 
country. They established themselves in Leyden, under the 
care of their pastor, the Rev. John Robinson. Their leading 
men were Brewster, Carver, and Winslow, afterwards famous 
in the history of New England. But although they enjoyed 

SI 



52 SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 

religious liberty, they found themselves strangers in a strange 
land, whose language, manners, and customs were very differ- 
ent from their own. Here they remained for several years, 
with little hope of future prosperity for themselves or their 
children. 

Dissatisfied with their condition in Holland, and fired by the 
reports of the Dutch adventurers, who pictured America as a 
land overflowing with milk and honey, the majority of the 
Puritans resolved to emigrate to the New World, where they 
would not only find freedom to worship God, but ample oppor- 
tunities for growth and expansion. Accordingly, in 
Charter ^^^9' ^^^cr much troublc, they obtained a charter 
from the Virginia Company, granting them per- 
mission, under certain conditions, to establish a settlement in 
any part of the King's American dominions. As the Dutch 
were in possession of New Netherland, they applied to the 
States for a similar charter ; but after much discussion it was 
refused. 



W^ 






^\ >,-^^\ 







The Mayflower. 

At last two ships, the Speedwell and the ATayflincer^ were 
procured and fitted out in Southampton, from which port they 
set sail on the 5th of August, 1620. There were about a 
hundred and twenty persons called Pilgrijus on board. \Mien 
a few days at sea they were compelled to return, because 



THE PILGRIMS. 



S3 



the Speedwell was found unseaworthy. Finally, on the 6th of 

September, the Mayfioiver started alone on one of 

the most memorable voyages ever recorded. The ^"^'^'■^*'°" 

,, . to America. 

Pilgrims suffered terribly from the tempestuous 

weather and from the close quarters in which they were 

confined. 

On the 9th of November they sighted land at Cape Cod ; 
but as it was their intention to reach the coast somewhere 
near the Hudson River, they turned their course toward the 
south. However, the severity of the weather and the danger 
of the coast compelled them to return and anchor in the 
harbor of Provincetown. 

It has been said that the Dutch captain was bribed to 
land the Pilgrims anywhere except on the territory claimed by 
Holland. But there is no truth in 
this story or tradition. It is more 
than probable that the immigrants 
were only too glad to establish 
their colony as remote as possible 
from the influence of either the 
Dutch or the English settlement. 
The Pilgrims made a temporary 
landing at Cape Cod, but, owing 
to lack of fresh water, found the 
place unfitted for their purpose. 
They sent out several parties, 
one under the leadership of the famous Miles Standish, to 
explore the coast and find a site suitable for a fort and 
a town. It was finally determined to select the height on 
which the present town of Plymouth now stands. There they 
found a stream of pure water and a safe harbor for the May- 
flower. 

Most of the Pilgrims stepped ashore on the celebrated 
Plymouth Rock, on the 21st of December, a day since held 
sacred by their descendants. Although the winter was un- 
usually mild, scarcity of provisions, privations of all kinds, 




Miles Standish. 



54 SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 

and close confinement on shipboard, caused disease to break 

out among them. More than half their number perished 

before the warm weather of spring set in. Gov- 

Settlement ^ j*jj jj-xni, 

^ ernor Carver died, and was succeeded ni oitice bv 

of Plymouth. ' •' 

William Bradford. Such were the terrible suffer- 
ings of the great men and pure women who laid the founda- 
tion of true republican government on the North American 
continent. 

The joint stock system of living failed as badly with the 

Pilgrims as it had previously done with the poor gentlemen 

of the Virginia colony ; and not until there was an allotment 

of land, and every man was obliged to work for 

rugg e or ^^^ support of liimsclf and his family, did prosper- 

existence. ^^^ -^ ' r r 

ity begin to dawn on the infant settlement. The 
dependence for supplies on England, and on the contributions 
of corn from friendly Indians, exerted a most deplorable influ- 
ence on the first settlers, destroying, as it did, the energy of 
the people, and leading to indolence and want of foresight. 
When they began to till their own fields, and to own their own 
crops, the Pilgrims had something to toil for ; and very soon 
industry, thrift, and economy prevailed — qualities which are 
essential to man's spiritual and temporal welfare. 

The Pilgrims did not escape the usual difhculties with the 
Indians ; but the white man was not in this instance, as in 
almost every other, the aggressor. Wrongs previously com- 
mitted upon the natives by adventurers from England had 
made the savages suspicious and vindictive ; and had it not 
been for the information furnished by a friendly Indian in 
regard to a conspiracy to suddenly attack and murder the Pil- 
grims, it is more than likely that the feeble colony would have 
perished. 

Being warned in time. Captain Miles Standish, the bold 

and fearless military leader, took the field with a 
* ^ small body of armed men, and inspired the Indians 

with a wholesome terror, by putting a few of the 
worst of them to death. 



MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY. 55 

In addition to these troubles, the Pilgrims were greatly an- 
noyed by evil-minded men who had joined their body in a 
spirit totally different from that which had prompted them into 
exile, first in Holland, and afterwards in America. They were 
annoyed, too, by a low grade of idle adventurers, sent out by 
the London Company, who had tried to form a settlement 
within a few miles of Plymouth ; but owing to indolence, vice, 
and cruelty towards the natives, they perished, or wandered 
off to other settlements. In spite of all difficulties, however, 
the Puritans grew and prospered, and rapidly established 
themselves along the coast of Rhode Island and Massa- 
chusetts. 

Charles I. of England for some reason not clearly under- 
stood — perhaps for the purpose of getting rid of some of his 
most formidable enemies — granted a very liberal 
charter to a corporation known as the Governor ^^ss^^^h"" 

setts Bay 

and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New coiony. 
England. Under this charter, freedom of worship 
was granted. Endicott was appointed deputy governor. In 
1628 he established a settlement at Salem. These colonists 
belonged to a better class, and were better educated than the 
Pilgrims ; but they lacked that perfect unity in religious affairs 
which prevailed at Plymouth. 

Dissatisfied with Salem, exploring expeditions were sent out 
to select a better site. In 1630 Boston was founded; and col- 
onies were already established at Charlestown, 
Dorchester, and Roxbury. Thus the Puritans were ^°""^'"& 

' ^ of 

firmly in possession of the entire coast of Massa- Boston, 
chusetts Bay and were fully determined to hold and 
govern the country in their own way. The temporal power 
they based on the spiritual. They had left their native land, 
and encountered all the hardships and dangers of a voyage 
across the Atlantic and settlement in a wilderness peopled by 
hostile savages, for the purpose of enjoying their peculiar form 
of worship, undisturbed by royal power on the one hand, or by 
turbulent dissenters on the other. 



56 SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 

Roger Williams, a minister, first at Plymouth and afterwards 
at Salem, began to preach doctrines at variance with the main 
body of the Puritans ; and although he had been 
Williams frequently warned, he refused to cease his obnox- 
ious teaching. His religious opinions were ultra- 
democratic, even for the Puritans; and the governor and 
council, fearing his iniiuence, had resolved to ship him to 
England ; but Williams, learning their plans, fled into the 
wilderness, and reached Narragansett Bay. 

He had been the defender and advocate of the Indian and 
had insisted that the King had no right to the territory. In 
his extremity the natives showed their gratitude by coming to 
his assistance. Doubtless but for them he would have per- 
ished ; for it was the month of January and the w^eather was 
exceedingly cold and the earth was covered with 
oun ing snow. In the spring five of his followers joined 
Providence. ^^^^^"^ ' ^^^ WilUams, with this small but devoted 
band, founded, in 1636, the city of Providence (so 
called because Providence had guided his steps), which became 
the nucleus of the future State of Rhode Island. 

The Dutch, as already stated, had extended their trading 
posts as far east as the Connecticut River, and in 1633 ^^^^ 
founded the city of Hartford. Some of the colonists of Mas- 
sachusetts Bay, either through a spirit of adventure, or thinking 
that the land on the banks of this river was more fertile than 
their own, moved into Connecticut under the leadership of 
Holmes, and formed a settlement in 1633 at Windsor, in spite 
of the Dutch claim to the territory. Another settlement was 
made at Wethersfield in 1635. But it was not until John Win- 
throp, a son of Governor Winthrop of Massachu- 

Connecticut. ^ r y^ . • . 

setts, was sent out as Governor 01 Connecticut, 
under a patent obtained by Lords Say and Brook, that these 
irregular settlements fell under the control of a stable govern- 
ment. Young Winthrop brought with him to America a force 
sufficiently strong to repel any attempts which the Dutch might 
make to drive out the English. The settlements at Hartford, 



MAINE AND NEW HAMPSHIRE. 57 

Windsor, and Wethersfield continued to prosper until they 
numbered about eight hundred souls. In 1837 a war broke 
out with the Pequot tribe of Indians which threatened the 
destruction of the colonists ; but a military band of over a 
hundred men, under the command of Captain John Mason, 
was so well handled that the tribe was almost exterminated. 

Theophilus Eaton and John Davenport were such ultra Puri- 
tans that they could not live among the Puritans of Massachu- 
setts Bay ; or perhaps they were alarmed at the treatment of 
Roger Williams and Mrs. Ann Hutchinson, whom the Puritans 
had banished a short time before on account of differences in 
religious opinion. So sailing westward, they selected and pur- 
chased from the Indians the present site of New Haven, which 
in 1638 they formed into a permanent settlement, under a plan 
of government which simply required the colonists to obey the 
Scriptures. The migration from Massachusetts stretched along 
the coast westward almost to the banks of the Hudson, and 
along the northern shores of Long Island, as far as the town 
of Flushing. 

Sir Ferdinando Gorges and John Mason (not the conqueror 
of the Pequot Indians) obtained a grant of land between the 
Merrimac and Kennebec Rivers. As early as 1622, under 
the patronage of the former, fishing settlements 
had been made on the coast of Maine, the most im- 
portant of which was the one at Saco. But either owing to 
the character of the people, or to a defective plan of govern- 
ment instituted by Gorges, these settlements did not prosper, 
and after falling into disorder they were absorbed by Massa- 
chusetts. 

In the same year (1622) a settlement was formed at Rye, in 
New Hampshire, and other settlements subsequently at Dover, 
Exeter, and Hampton. But the most important 
colony, composed of farmers and fishermen, was „ ^^^. 

' Hampshire. 

planted in 1630 at Portsmouth, under the auspices 

of Gorges and Mason. These men were strong adherents of 

the Established Church of England and, of course, of the 



58 SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND, 

royal authority. The colonists whom they sent to America 
entertained their views, and hence religious differences arose 
between them and the Puritans who had settled some of the 
other towns. However, as each town had its own government, 
which was truly democratic, the contest between the sects was 
limited to a war of words. In 1643 the New Hampshire settle- 
ments were also absorbed by Massachusetts. 

George Calvert, before his conversion to the Catholic reli- 
gion, had been first secretary of state to James I., a member of 
the London Company, and deeply interested in American col- 
onization. He had received a charter from the King, granting 
him certain territory on the island of Newfoundland, where he 
had planted a colony ; but owing to the severity of the climate, 
he was resolved to move farther toward the south. In 1629 he 
endeavored to establish a colony of Roman Catholics near 
Jamestown ; but religious differences with the Virginia settlers, 
who were mainly Episcopalians, caused him to abandon the 
attempt and return to England. 

He obtained a charter from James's successor, Charles I., 
granting him certain territory north of the Potomac, with 
powers to govern subject only to the King himself. He died, 
however, before the charter was officially completed ; and his 
titles and rights descended to his son Cecil. 

In 1632 Cecil sent out his brother Leonard with two hun- 
dred colonists, most of whom were laborers and mechanics, 
who made a settlement at the mouth of the Potomac. 

Maryland. ^^. •, t i , r 

His purpose was to establish a secure asylum for 
the persecuted Roman Catholics. This colony deserves credit 
for two things : first, it granted perfect religious toleration ; and, 
secondly, it established friendly relations with the Indians, 
whom it treated with kindness and humanity. Although some 
of the settlers were Protestants, they lived together in harmony, 
and continued to increase and prosper until the political trou- 
bles in England between Charles I. and the Parliament were 
transported to the American colonies. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE SETTLEMENT OF OTHER COLONIES. 

'• Freedom has a thousand charms to show, 
That slaves, howe'er contented, never know." 

New Jersey was settled by the Dutch in 1624. They had, 
however, prior to that time established trading posts on the 
west bank of the Hudson, and as far east as 
Hartford. The whole territory was known as ^"^ J"^^y- 
New Netherland until its conquest, in 1664, by Colonel 
Nichols. 

In 1638 Delaware was settled at Fort Christiana, now Wil- 
mington, by a colony of Swedes sent out by the South Com- 
pany of Sweden, which had obtained, in 1624, a 
charter from their king, the heroic Gustavus Adol- 
phus. Troubles arose between them and the Dutch about the 
rightful ownership of the territory. The colony prospered be- 
cause the people were frugal and industrious, until they were 
attacked, in 1655, by the Dutch governor, Stuyvesant, with an 
overwhelming force of seven hundred men, and compelled to 
submit to his authority. 

A charter was granted in 1663 by Charles H. to certain favo- 
rite noblemen of his court, by which they obtained the owner- 
ship of all the territory extending from the southern shore of 
Virginia to the St. Johns River in Florida, and towards the 
west indefinitely. A second charter was granted in 1665, 
extending the boundaries still farther toward the north and 
south. 

The chief patentees were the Earl of Shaftesbury, the 
Duke of Albemarle and Sir William Berkeley, the governor of 
Virginia. Prior to these charters a similar charter had been 
granted by Charles L, in 1630, to Sir Robert Heath, the attor- 
ney general, on condition that he would establish a colony and 

59 



60 SETTLEMENT OE OTHER COLONIES. 

Christianize the Indians. Neither condition, however, was ever 
accompUshed, and therefore the charter became worthless. 

Just as adventurers, discontented persons, and people in 
quest of religious liberty, had removed from the parent settle- 
ments in Massachusetts and New Netherland, so a similar 
class in Virginia migrated southward, some for purposes of 
trade, and others to enjoy freedom of worship. In 1653 Roger 
Green, a clergyman, dissatisfied with the forms and ceremonies 
of the Church of England, as established in Virginia, 
^^® founded the first permanent colony on Albemarle 

Carolinas. r i i r ^ 

Sound, under a grant of a thousand acres irom the 
mother colony. Others, in like manner, at different periods, 
had established trading stations and settlements on the banks 
of the rivers ; but they were all in turn abandoned. 

A band of adventurers had gone from New England for the 
purpose of raising cattle ; but getting into difficulties with the 
Indians, some were killed, and the remainder disappeared from 
Carolina. Several hundred immigrants from the West Indies, 
under the leadership of Sir John Yeamans, purchased thirty- 
two square miles of land from the natives, and 
Settlement ^^^XX^^ at Charleston in 1670. This was the first 
Charleston permanent settlement in South Carolina. They 
asked the English proprietors to confirm this pur- 
chase, but their request was refused. However, they granted 
the settlers terms which proved satisfactory. William Drum- 
mond was sent out as governor of the territory, including Albe- 
marle and Clarendon, which subsequently obtained the names 
of No'i'th and South Carolina. 

The father of William Penn had been an admiral in the Eng- 
lish navy. During the civil war between Charles I. and the 
Parliament, Admiral Penn had loaned the King a sum of 
money; and when the King's son, Charles II., was 
1 lam j-estored to the throne, William Penn naturally asked 

Penn. -' 

him to pay the just debt. But Charles was gen- 
erally without money, or had very little to spare from his 
pleasures; and so it came to pass that he offered Penn in pay- 



FEJVNS YL VANIA. 



6i 




Perm. 



ment forty thousand square miles of land in America. This 
was better than nothing ; so Penn accepted the King's offer, 
informing him at the same 

time that he would purchase — -c-^ ^^ 

the land from the Indians. 
Doubtless this honest resolu- 
tion must have seemed very 
ridiculous to the " Merry Mon- 
arch." 

William Penn was a Quaker, 
and a very just and upright 
man, who was determined to 
found a colony in which re- 
ligious toleration would be 
accorded to every Christian 
denomination, and in which 
the Indians would be treated 
as men entitled to the protec- 
tion of the law, and not as wild beasts to be hunted and de- 
stroyed. In 1681 he sent out three ships con-taining a superior 
class of Quaker emigrants, and the following year he came 
to America himself, accompanied by a hundred more people 
of the same class. His first duty was to give the colonists a 
liberal constitution, under which they were permitted to elect 
all their own officers, except the governor, who was 
to be chosen by the proprietor. Most of the laws ^^""syiva- 

nian Con- 

instituted by Penn were excellent. Among them gtitutjon. 
were these : Every child must be taught some 
trade ; criminals must be employed while in prison ; all pub- 
lic officers must be professing Christians ; and private citi- 
zens must believe in God. His object was to build up a state 
on the foundation of justice, industry, and conscientiousness. 

General James Oglethorpe was a member of the English 
Parliament, a man of excellent princip^les, and remarkable for 
his humanity. At the period in which he lived debtors were 
imprisoned, sometimes for life, and oftentimes they were treated 




62 SETTLEMENT OF OTHER COLONIES. 

with cruelty. Oglethorpe conceived the idea of founding a 
colony in America, where these debtors might have an oppor- 
tunity of retrieving their fallen for- 
tunes. He obtained the assistance 
of humane men like himself, and 
they formed themselves into a com- 
pany to carry out their benevolent 
undertaking. They obtained a char- 
ter from George II., granting them 
the lands south of South Carolina 
and north of Florida, to which they 
ffave the name of Geors;ia, in honor 

Oglethorpe. ^ ^ ' 

of the Knig. Under this charter 
twenty-one trustees were chosen ; and they had the right, 
during the first four years, to elect their own governor and 
other officers, after which they were to be appointed 
by the sovereign. To prove the sincerity of their 
motives, they passed a law that no member of the Company 
should hold a salaried office. Even Oglethorpe, the first 
governor, served without pay. In order to encourage industry 
and the general welfare, slavery was prohibited, and tolera- 
tion in religion was granted to all except Catholics. 

In 1732 Oglethorpe arrived in America with thirty-five se- 
lected families, and the next year he founded Savannah, on 
the banks of the river of the same name. In 1734 
oun ing o ^ number of German Protestants arrived: and, 

Savannah. ^ ' ' 

owing to their habits of industry, proved of great 
advantage to the colony. Trading posts were established on 
the Savannah and at other places, and the most cordial rela- 
tions existed with the Indians. But in spite of all the care 
with which the Company had matured their plans, the colony 
did not prosper, because it was impossible to make good 
farmers out of debtors who had been demoralized by years of 
enforced idleness. Tli^e trustees, seeing that something must 
be done, sent over more German Protestants, and some Scotch 
Highlanders, who soon caused the colony to prosper. 



CHAPTER XI. 

THE INDIAN AND COLONIAL WARS. 

" War in men's eyes shall be, 
A monster of iniquity. 
In the good time coming." 

The Pequot War. 

The history of the red man has been written by the white 
man ; and hence there is usually but one side to the story. 
Had the Indian possessed the ability to write and to print, he 
might have thrown such a light on events as would alter the 
opinion of mankind regarding the character and conduct of the 
early settlers of America. The white man had two powerful 
weapons — gunpowder and the printing press ; the red man 
had his flint-pointed arrows and his ignorance. Apparently, 
the cause of the Pequot War was the murder of 
two Eno-lishmen named Oldham and Stone. The Murder 

. , , r ,1-1 of Oldham 

former was evidently a man of rough and violent ^^^ stone 
temper, who had been expelled from the Plymouth 
colony. He had tried to found settlements in different places 
along the coast, but without success. He then took to trading 
with the natives in a vessel of his own. Considering Old- 
ham's character, it is not at all improbable that the Indians 
attacked him on board his ship, off Block Island, and mur- 
dered him in retaliation for some outrage inflicted upon them. 

Be that as it may, John Endicott of Salem (1637), with a 
company of a hundred men, was ordered by the magistrates to 
kill all the men on Block Island, but to spare the women and 
children. On Endicott's landing, the Indians sought shelter 
in the interior of the island. The English, however, destroyed 
two villages, and all the food and wigwams, and sailed away, 
leaving the natives to starve to death. Endicott then turned 

63 



64 INDIAN AND COLONIAL WARS. 

his attention to the Pequots, who had murdered Stone and who 
tried to form an alUance with the Narragansetts for the purpose 
of driving the EngUsh colonists into the sea. He asked that 
their chief, Sassacus, should be brought before him; but the 
wily savage knew better than to trust himself to the, 
Endicotf s tender mercies of the white chief. Endicott ordered 

attack on . 

the Pequots. ^^ attack ; and, as usual, rimt-pomted arrows were 
of no avail against steel and gunpowder, and the 
savages were forced to find refuge in their forest recesses. 
The English leader then destroyed their houses and food. 

The Indians retaliated by attacking the small Connecticut 
settlements, killing some of their people, and destroying their 
crops. Finally, an expedition consisting of three hundred 
men, under the command of Mason and Underhill, surprised 
the Pequots in their principal village, and slew four hundred 
of them. Only five Indians escaped to tell the tale. Only 
two of the whites were killed ! This famous victory ended the 
"war;" and the Pequots never again troubled the English. 

King Philip's War. 

Massasoit, the great chief of the Wampanoags, or Pokano- 
kets, had been the friend of the Plymouth colony from the first 
landing of the Pilgrims to the time of his death. The treaty 
made between the English and the Indians had been faithfully 
kept as long as Massasoit was living. But when he died, fears 
and jealousies arose between the two races. The New Eng- 
land colonists, it is true, had purchased the land from the 
natives, and had treated them with more humanity than any 
other settlers had done, the follo\vers of William Penn ex- 
cepted ; but this "purchase" was a one-sided bargain, by 
which the English obtained many square miles of land in 
exchange for a few trinkets, blankets, and old muskets. As 
the colonists overspread the land, the Indians w^ere gradually 
pushed backward, and forced to abandon the hunting grounds 
of their forefathers. Hence arose dissatisfaction among the 
natives, and distrust and apprehension among the English. 



KJNG PHILIP'S IVAR. 



65 



Massasoit had left two sons, who at his own request had re- 
ceived the Enghsh names, Alexander and Philip. The former, 
having been called to Plymouth to explain his supposed con- 
spiracy against the colonists, died very suddenly on his way to 
the town. The Indians said he had been poisoned; the English 
that he had died of fever. Philip then became chief, or king, 
of the tribe. For twelve years, from 1662 to 1674, he had man- 
aged, under a smooth exterior, to conceal his animosity and 
desire for revenge. Although frequently called to account for 
his conduct, he artfully contrived to prove his innocence. 
Doubtless the real cause of the war was the en- 
croachment of the settlers on the huntins^ 2:rounds , J"^^ 

^ ^ of the war. 

of the Indians; the immediate cause was the mur- 
der of an Indian missionary named Sausaman, at the instiga- 
tion of Philip. Sausaman had incurred the enmity of the chief 
by informing the English of a con- 
spiracy among the tribes to drive 
the colonists into the sea. The 
English executed the murderers. 

Philip, in revenge, suddenly at- 
tacked the people of Swansea as 
they "vere returning home from 
church and killed eight or nine 
persons. Volunteers from Boston 
joined the men of Swansea and 
attacked and routed the Indians. 
In their flight the savages burned 
farmhouses and murdered and 
scalped their- inhabitants. Philip 

took refuge in a swamp at Pocasset, where he was again 
attacked and routed; but from the nature of the ground the 
victory was incomplete, and many of the English were slain. 
The English commander then resolved to starve the Indians 
into submission. The wily Philip, perceiving this design, 
managed with his usual dexterity to escape, and fled west- 
ward to the present site of Worcester, where he joined his 

HUNT. U. S. HIST. — 5 




King Philip. 



66 INDIAN- AND COLONIAL WARS. 

forces to another tribe called the Nipmucks, which had already 
commenced war against the whites. 

The governor sent Captains Wheeler and Hutchinson to treat 

with this tribe ; but they were suddenly attacked by the Indians 

in ambush, and lost sixteen men — eight killed 

Defeatof ^^^^ .^^ woundcd. The English fled to Brook- 

the English. * =' 

field, closely followed by the savages, who burnt 
every house except one in which the flying people found 
refuge. The house was surrounded ; and for two days the 
Indians fired musket balls through the wooden structure, kill- 
ing only one person. They then made energetic efforts to set 
the house on fire; but just as the flames began to threaten 
the besieged with a horrible death, a torrent of rain put out the 
fire and saved them. 

Major Willard then came to their relief, defeated the sav- 
ages, and slew a considerable number of them. Several towns 
on the Connecticut River were attacked; many houses were 
burned, and many of the people murdered. Captain Lathrop, 
with a band of eighty young men, was surprised and surrounded 
by eight hundred Indians at Muddy Creek, and seventy of 
the English were massacred. Captain Mosely, on hearing 
the rattle of musketry, hastened to the scene of action, and 
slew ninety-six and wounded forty of the enemy. A contagion 
of crime seemed to have seized the savages. Those hitherto 
friendly to the white men suddenly became their deadliest foes. 
Springfield was attacked by a trilDC that had lived for years in 
amity with the English. It was saved, however, by the timely 
arrival of a force from Westfield. 

Everywhere throughout New England the Indians took up 
arms to exterminate the colonists or drive them away. Matters 
wore an ugly look for the English. Finally, Governor Winslow 
collected a large force, and marched out to attack the Indians, 
who had strongly fortified themselves in a swamp. With great 
courage he assaulted them in their palisaded stronghold, slew 
seven hundred warriors, took many prisoners, and set six hun- 
dred wigwams on fire, in which many women, children, and old 



KING PHILIP'S WAR. 6/ 

and infirm men miserably perished. The few who survived 
sought safety in flight. The savages never recovered from this 
terrible blow. Doubtless stern necessity compelled Governor 
Winslow to strike terror into the hearts of the Indians, who 
had spared neither age nor sex. The conflict had reached a 
point where either the colonists had to abandon New England 
to the savages, or crush them into absolute submission by using 
their own weapons, fire and sword, without quarter and without 
mercy. It was impossible to conduct hostilities 
against them according to the rules of civilized "^'"^lo^ 

^ subdues the 

warfare. The dreadful chastisement administered Indians, 
by Winslow forever destroyed the power of the 
Indians in New England. Still they continued to burn, de- 
stroy, and murder wherever an opportunity presented itself. 

At last their wily, warlike, and able chief was surprised in 
his stronghold at Mount Hope, Rhode Island, by Captain 
Church, who had learned to practice the Indian method of 
warfare. In an attempt to escape, Philip was slain by one of 
his own countrymen, fighting on the side of the English. His 
death virtually ended the war, which had lasted more than a 
year. 



CHAPTER Xir. 

THE GROWTH OF THE COLONIES. 

' Ay,' quoth my uncle Gloster, 

' Small herbs have grace, great weeds do grow apace ; 
And since, methinks, I would not grow so fast, 
Because sweet flowers are slow and weeds make haste. 



Virginia. 

In the beginning, and indeed for a long period afterwards, 

the Virginia colony was unfortunate in many ways : in the 

character of the first settlers, the broken-down Eng- 

,-!'^^\" lish orentlemen, too proud or too lazy to work: in 

Virginia. * ^ r ... 

the weak character of the criminals and kidnapped 
boys and girls sent out as " indented servants ; " in the intro- 
duction of African slave labor, the curse of any country that 

uses it ; in the inhuman treat- 
ment of the Indians by some of 
the settlers ; in the frequent 
massacres of the whites, the 
natural result of such treat- 
ment ; and, above all, in the 
feeble or despotic character of 
most of the governors. 

Charles I., owing to his de- 
termined effort to rule England 
like an Eastern despot, was 
slowly but surely paving his 
way to that scaffold on which 
he subsequently perished. He 
sent out to Virginia a royal 
governor, a man after his own heart, whose political principles 
were, if possible, worse than his own. This man was Sir John 

68 




Charles I. 



VIRGINIA. 



Harvey. Very soon he fell into trouble with the colonists, 

who, unable to bear his tyranny, deposed him. 

He then returned to England to plead his cause ^p°^i*'°" 

, . of Harvey. 

before the King, Charles, with his usual obstinacy, 

sent him back to Virginia, where he remained as governor 

until he was superseded by Wyatt. 

In 1642 Wyatt was succeeded by the celebrated Sir William 
Berkeley, a man of marked ability, but if possible more despotic 
in his views than Harvey. Berkeley in 1644 suppressed a sec- 
ond rising of the Indians. Al- 
though there were frequent quar- 
rels between the royal governor 
and the people, they remained 
truly loyal to the King in his 
deadly conflict with his Parlia- 
ment. After the execution of / 
Charles I. (1649) so many of the / 
defeated Royalists of the better 
class found refuge in Virginia, '" 
that the population increased in 
twenty years from fifteen thou- 
sand to forty thousand. So 
strong had the colony become, 
that Berkeley even mvited the 

fugitive son of the late King to come over and find a home 
among his loyal subjects. 

But Oliver Cromwell, a rigid Puritan of great ability and 
indomitable will, had risen to be the supreme ruler of Great 
Britain and Ireland, under the title of Lord Protector of the 
Commonwealth. He resolved with his usual vigor to crush 
the Royalist party in Virginia. Accordingly, he 

• i 1 -n -^ • • ^ ^ 1 ' Richard 

apponited Puritan commissioners to take posses- 

^^ ^ Bennet. 

sion of the territory, and govern it in the interest 
of the Commonwealth. Richard Bennet was made governor ; 
and on his arrival in Chesapeake Bay the colonists were too 
weak to offer resistance to his authority. The rule of the 




Cromwell. 



70 GROWTH OF THE COLONIES. 

Puritan governors under the administration of Cromwell was 
conducted according to law, and the colony prospered. The 
Restoration, in 1660, caused a revolution in Virginia. The 
Puritans were deposed, and the Royalists were restored to 
power. 

Charles II. made a present of Virginia to Lords Arlington 
and Culpeper. The Navigation Act was enforced, by which 
all exports of tobacco were to be sent to English ports, and all 
imports of any kind from the European continent must be car- 
ried in English ships. This act, together with the harsh treat- 
ment of the Puritans, caused a rebellion in 1663, which was 
promptly suppressed. In 1676 another rebellion 

R b'^m n ^^"^ greater in extent sprang up, under the leader- 
ship of Nathaniel Bacon, which at first promised 
to be successful. Bacon burned Jamestown and put Berkeley 
to flight. But the leader dying soon after of swamp fever, 
the rebels were unable to make a stand against the power of 
the Governor. 

Berkeley reestablished his tyrannical rule ; but such was his 
cruelty that even Charles reprimanded and recalled him. It 
is said that he died of a broken heart. In spite of Indian 
massacres, of the Navigation Act, and of rebellions against 
tyrannic royal governors, the Virginia colony continued to 
grow and prosper. This prosperity was due largely to the 
profits arising from the cultivation of and trade in tobacco. 

New England. 

The introduction of printing in England, and the destruction 
of the feudal system by the Tudor sovereigns, had created a 
powerful middle class, who found an outlet for their talents 
in trade, commerce, and manufactures. It was the policy of 
Henry VII. and his immediate successors to crush the power 
of the great nobles, so that no one in the future could make 
and unmake kings as Warwick had done during the reigns of 
Henry VI. and Edward IV. Gradually, during the reigns of 
Edward VI., Mary, and Elizabeth, a religious body arose totally 



NEW ENGLAND. /I 

opposed to the forms and ceremonies of the Church of Eng- 
land, and strongly in favor of a democratic form of worship. 
Democracy in religion was followed by democracy in politics. 
Under the strong government of the Tudors, the Puritans 
remained comparatively passive. But on the accession of 
James I., matters in church and state assumed a different 
aspect. The seventeenth century was a century of religious 
excitement. Civil wars and persecutions prevailed over the 
greater portion of northern and western Europe ; 
and England did not escape the catastrophe. In ^'^'^ ^"'^ 

. religious 

another place we have described the persecution ^^^g- 
of the Puritans, their taking refuge in Holland, 
their emigration to America, their deadly contests with the 
Indians in two wars, and their toils and suft'erings during the 
first years of their settlement. 

The communistic plan of government — if such it may be 
called — Avas tried in New England, but failed, as it had pre- 
viously failed in Virginia. What is everybody's business is 
nobody's business. When the land was tilled in common, and 
all were supported from a common stock, each laborer relied 
on all the others ; and soon there was an end of that foresight, 
thrift, and energy so essential to success. The settlers were 
obliged to distribute the land and allot twenty acres to each 
household. In 1643 there were only three thousand inhabi- 
tants in Plymouth, and about twenty-five thousand 
scattered over the settlements from Maine to the Population 
borders of New Netherland. The first o-overnments °^ ^^^ 

. England 

were pure democracies, and so continued until 1638, 101643. 
when, owing to the establishment of so many towns, 
the representative system was instituted by which each town- 
ship was entitled to two delegates. Purely local matters were 
managed by primary assemblies. 

In these forms of democratic and republican governments, 
it is easy to trace the germs of the present Constitution of 
the United States. As might be expected with a people with 
whom religion was by far the greatest concern of life, the gov- 



72 GROWTH OF THE COLONIES. 

ernment of the New England settlements was to a great extent 
controlled by clergymen. Two ministers, John Cotton and 
Nathaniel Ward, presented a plan of government entitled 
'•The Body of Liberties," which was a combination 
" The Body q£ ^^^ \2.yNS of England and the laws of Moses. 
Liberties " This codc was in most respects admirable. It 
secured equal rights for all ; it protected the person 
from imprisonment, and his property from seizure, except by 
due process of law ; it required humane treatment of the lower 
animals ; it would not permit any person to be tried twice for 
the same offense ; it provided against the expenditure of the 
public money except with the consent of the taxpayers ; it 
prohibited cruel punishments and slavery, except under certain 
conditions. But as to the objectionable features of this " Body 
of Liberties " — this union of the Mosaic law with the laws of 
England — there is, perhaps, no better commentary than the 
law fixing the death penalty for witchcraft and treason. 

The Massachusetts Bay Colony, though younger than that 
of Plymouth, grew in a few years to be the chief center of New 
England. Her people were more intelligent, and of course her 
affairs were managed with greater skill and success. Many of 
the settlements, stretching from the Connecticut to the shores 
of Maine, were small and weak, and in danger, not only from 
the Indians, but from the Dutch on the west, and the French 
on the north. 

The people of Connecticut, in 1637, proposed a union with 
Massachusetts, which was at first declined. But the agita- 
tion going on in England between Charles I. and the Parlia- 
ment was just reaching a point where if the King succeeded 
he might undertake to punish the dissenters in New 
United England, whose sympathies were naturally against 
j^g^ him in the struggle. Hence Englishmen in Amer- 
Engiand. ica soou perccivcd the necessity for union. Mass- 
achusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New 
Haven entered into an alliance offensive and defensive, 
entitled, " The United Colonies of New England." Rhode 



NEW YORK. "J-i^ 

Island and Maine applied for admission, but were refused on 
account of their loyalty to the King. 

Although the Massachusetts Bay Colony was by far the most 
populous and powerful, it frequently suffered from a coalition 
of the other three colonies. Nevertheless, the union was faith- 
fully maintained, and added greatly to the strength and pros- 
perity of New England. During the period from 1643 to 1660 
the colonies were left to themselves, undisturbed by king or 
royal governor. But on the restoration of Charles 11. matters 
assumed a different form. The King accused the colonies of 
disloyalty, and of forming a confederacy to give aid and com- 
fort to his enemies. 

The colonies no doubt sympathized with Cromwell and the 
other "regicides," and naturally dreaded the restoration of 
the Stuarts. Massachusetts sent two agents to 
England for the purpose of conciliating the King. Conciliation 
Charles was easily appeased. All he demanded was charies 11. 
that equal rights should be given to all settlers, 
without regard to their religious opinions, and that all state 
papers should be issued in the King's name. 

New York. 

The English colonies of Virginia and New England were 
cut off from communication by the Dutch settlements, which 
extended from the Delaware to the Connecticut. During the 
great civil war in England, the Dutch pushed their trading set- 
tlements to such an extent as to annoy the English colonists. 
Hence frequent territorial disputes sprang up between the two 
races. In 1654, while at war with Holland, Cromwell sent out 
a fleet to seize New Netherland; but peace was established 
before anything was accomplished. It will be remembered 
that England claimed the continent from Newfoundland to 
Florida, in consequence of the discoveries of the Cabots ; and 
nothing but the cowardice of James I., and the political troubles 
of his successors, Charles I. and Oliver Cromwell, prevented the 
English from asserting their right to this vast extent of terri- 



74 GROWTH OF THE COLONIES. 

tory. New Netherland certainly contained, in the town of New 
Amsterdam and in the Hudson River, the finest site for a com- 
mercial emporium to be found anywhere along the Atlantic 
coast. 

In the Dutch government of New Netherland, Peter Minuit 
had been superseded by Wouter Von Twiller (1633), under 
whose administration the English began encroachments on the 
Dutch territory in Long Island and Connecticut, while at the 
same time the Swedes were forming settlements on 
Dutch gov- ^i^g Delaware. The West India Company, dissatis- 
New York. ^^^ \^'\\}ci Van Twiller's government, recalled him, 
and sent out Sir William Kieft (1638) as his suc- 
cessor. Kieft signalized his administration by great cruelty 
toward the Indians ; and the colonists, always inclined to treat 
the natives justly, becoming disgusted with his barbarity, de- 
manded his removal. 

He was succeeded by Peter Stuyvesant, the most distin- 
guished of the Dutch governors, whose great kindness towards 
the Indians aroused the suspicion of the English that he had 
formed the design of combining the savages against the New 
England settlements. In order to put an end, at least for a 
time, to the perpetual disputes regarding territorial rights, 
Stuyvesant made a treaty with the English by which the 
boundary of New Netherland on the east was to extend on 
Long Island as far as Oyster Bay, and on the mainland of 
Connecticut as far as the town of Greenwich. 

Under the rule of their governors, especially under Kieft and 
Stuyvesant, the Dutch settlers possessed very little liberty, and 
their influence in the government was next to nothing. In 
their intercourse with the English they had seen and envied 
the freedom and rights guaranteed to the people in the New 
Col Nichols England township governments. Hence, when 

captures Charlcs II. granted his brother James, Duke of 
New York, the whole territory from the Connecticut to 
the Delaware ; and when, in order to take posses- 
sion of this grant, the latter sent out Colonel Nichols (1664), 



A^EW YORK. 75 

Stuyvesant did not find many loyal supporters to resist the 
English invasion. In fact, the Dutch offered no resistance : 
they surrendered New Amsterdam without a blow ; and Nichols 
named the town and territory New York, in honor of his em- 
ployer and patron. Fort Orange received the name of Albany. 

However, though the government was changed, the manners, 
customs, religion, and language of the Dutch colonists remained 
unchanged. Nichols, the new governor, issued a code of laws 
very much superior to that of the Dutch West India Company, 
under which the people prospered for nine years. War having 
broken out once more between England and Holland, the latter 
country sent out a fleet, in 1673, which captured the province 
and held it for four months ; but by the treaty of Westphalia 
it was restored to the English. 

The colony prospered under the administration of Governor 
Andros. He made an effort to neutralize the difftculties in 
regard to land titles, caused by the grant of the territory now 
known as New Jersey to Carteret and Berkeley. But these 
men, owing to their influence at the court of England, were 
able to secure his recall. Andros was succeeded by Governor 
Dongan, under whom the celebrated charter known 
by his name was adopted. This charter granted the ^ ongan 
franchise to all freeholders; it made the assembly 
coordinate with the governor and council ; it guaranteed reli- 
gious liberty ; it provided that taxes could not be raised except 
with the consent of the assembly, and that all laws must be 
approved by the Duke of York. But this liberal form of gov- 
ernment did not last long. The duke came to the throne 
under the title of James II., and proved himself a most arbi- 
trary sovereign. As king he undid most of his wise acts as 
duke. He issued an order to establish the Church of England 
in the colony, and to allow no schools unless Ucensed by the 
church. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE GROWTH OF THE COLONIES — Continued. 

" Thus the mercury of man is fixed, 
Strong grows his virtue with his nature mixed." 

During the first century of English colonization in America 
the settlements extended along a narrow strip of coast from 
Maine to Florida, and along the banks of the navigable rivers.^ 
Periodic famines and fevers thinned the infant settlements. 
Gradually, however, a better class of men came to America, 
notably to Massachusetts, who taught the people how to live. 
The great civil war in England, as before remarked, caused a 
large emigration of defeated Royalists to Virginia. This con- 
sisted of an educated class, who became the progenitors of the 
"first families." The overthrow of the Commonwealth and 
the restoration of Charles II. compelled many of the repub- 
lican followers of Cromwell to seek safety and fortune in New 
England. Thus the misfortunes of the mother country became 
a source of strength to the young and struggling colonies. 

It is estimated that towards the close of the first century 
of settlement in America, the total population of the thirteen 
colonies scarcely amounted to two hundred thousand — a num- 
ber less than the emigration from Great Britain or Germany 
in a single year during the decade between 1850 
Population ^^^ jg^Q^ y^^^Q ^i-^^^ ^ ^h^rd of all the inhabi- 

coionils. tants belonged to Massachusetts, which contained 
as many people as Virginia and New York com- 
bined, notwithstanding the fact that they were both settled 
before New England. 

1 In order to avoid confusion in this narrative, no attempt is made to describe 
the Spanish settlements on the Gulf of Mexico, or the French settlements along 
the shores of the Great Lakes and on the banks of the St. Lawrence and the Mis- 
sissippi. 

76 



THE NEW ENGLANDERS. jy 

Agriculture was, of course, the chief employment of the 
first settlers. The farming was rude and primitive, and per- 
formed with the poorest implements. The cultivation of 
tobacco in Virginia, and the fur trade throughout most of the 
colonies, created a considerable commerce with England and 
added not a little to the general prosperity. Beef, pork, fish, 
and grain were also exported ; and in return the people ob- 
tained the merchandise so necessary to their comfort. The 
iniquitous Navigation Act was a great impediment to com- 
mercial enterprise. The growth of manufactures was very 
slow. The first attempts to manufacture in New England 
failed, partly because there was more profit in trade. 

Education was not neglected. To the credit of New Eng- 
land be it said that the first settlers always established com- 
mon schools for the education of all classes. On the contrary, 
Virginia founded schools for the higher classes 
only. As early as 1637 the Massachusetts Bay bounding 
Colony established a college at Newtown, and college 
named it Cambridge. Afterwards the name was 
changed to Harvard, in honor of the Rev. John Harvard, who 
bequeathed it the sum of ^800. 

In the life of the New England colonist, his religion was 
always his chief consideration. It was the pivotal point on 
which all his actions turned. He was only a pilgrim and a 
sojourner on earth. This world was only a place of proba- 
tion. His habits, customs, conduct, and character 
were based upon his creed ; and yet, though grave, ^^^'■^^*^'' °^ 
stern, and austere, he was manly, bold, and cour- Engianders 
ageous. Nor was he deficient in the sound com- 
mon sense which is the chief factor of success in business. 
The laws were largely sumptuary. Life was too solemn and 
serious to be wasted in frivolous amusement or in luxury. 
There was neither music nor theater for adults ; nor were 
there toys or games for children. The moral atmosphere was 
virtuous, but somber as a sunless sky. The Puritan loved 
freedom, but he never mistook license for libertv. He was 



7 8 GROWTH OF THE COLONIES. 

the progenitor of that hardy and indomitable race who subse- 
quently formed the vanguard of the armies that wrested the 
thirteen colonies from the grasp of the King of England, and 
who, in after years, spread themselves from the shores of Maine 
and Massachusetts to the Lakes and the Pacific, and shaped 
the policy of the great northwestern States — the States mainly 
instrumental in giving slavery its death blow. 




Harvard Colleg 



For many years the Dutch in New York and New Jersey, 

even under English rule, preserved their language, customs, 

and religion, and could scarcely be distinguished 

Character ^^^^ ^j^^-^ brethren in Holland. They were re- 

of the ^ 

Dutch. markable for their thrift and honesty. They were 
good traders and extended their commerce. It was 
quite natural that such a people should leave a posterity capa- 
ble of making the city of New York the commercial emporium 
of the New World. 



CLASSES IN VIRGINIA. 79 

Virginia, from the very nature of its settlement, contained 
two distinct classes : one proud, haughty, and courageous ; and 
the other ignorant, indolent, and dependent, commonly known 
as " white trash." These two classes extended from the James 
to the Savannah, and their religion was mainly that of the 
Church of England. Among a people consisting of two such 
classes, perhaps slavery, in the early period, became 
almost a necessity. The broken-down gentlemen ^^^^^^. ^" 

^ =* Virginia. 

who first settled the territory, reenforced later by 
the defeated followers of Charles I., were too proud to toil with 
their hands for a living, and the " indented " white slaves and 
their descendants were too lazy or too vicious for steady and 
continuous labor. From what may be called the upper class 
sprang the Washingtons, Jeffersons, and Madisons, whose early 
election to the presidency of the United States earned for Vir- 
ginia the proud title of the "Mother of Presidents." 

Thus during the first century of settlement two antagonistic 
forces grew up along the Atlantic coast, separated only by 
comparatively small settlements of Dutch and Swedes, whose 
homes were on the banks of the Hudson and the Delawa-re. 
The Quakers of Pennsylvania resembled in many respects the 
Puritans of New England ; and the Catholics and other high 
churchmen of Maryland were very much in accord with their 
brethren of Virginia. A common struggle for existence against 
fever, famine, and the Indian, against the encroachments of the 
French, and afterwards against their common enemy, the King 
of England, prevented these two antagonistic forces from com- 
ing into collision for a period of more than a hundred and fifty 
years. 

During the first century of settlement. New England was 
subject to periodic outbreaks of a singular superstition known 
as witchcraft. Even enlightened men in England 
and America at this period believed in it as firmly Witchcraft 

, , ,. , . , _,., , Till r 1 *" New Eng- 

as they believed in the Bible. Indeed, they found j^^^ 

their authority for their belief in it in the Scriptures. 

Great divines and great lawyers, in common with the ignorant, 



8o GROWTH OF THE COLONIES. 

did not escape the delusion. The lonely New England shore 
with the wild waves ever roaring against it, the dense woods 
with their weird inhabitants, the want of recreation and amuse- 
ment, the gloom caused by their religious habits, all tended to 
work on the imagination of a people accustomed in a great 
degree to solitary labor, and to arouse that superstition to which 
mankind is more or less prone. 

Witchcraft first made its appearance in 1645, when several 
persons were put to death for it in Massachusetts. Then it 
slumbered until 1687. In this year an Irishwoman was exe- 
cuted on the charge of having bewitched four children. In 
1692 the disease (for disease of the imagination it certainly 
was) broke out with redoubled fury, and accusa- 

Riseand ^Jq^s of witchcraft were not limited as heretofore to 

progress of 

the delusion, the poor and the ignorant ; they extended to some 
of the first families in New England. During the 
existence of this species of insanity, nineteen persons were 
executed, a hundred and fifty imprisoned, and two hundred 
accused. Like other infectious diseases, it ran its course and 
disappeared. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE COLONIAL WARS. 

" She saw her sons with purple death expire, 
Her sacred domes involved in rolling fire, . 
A dreadful series of intestine wars. 
Inglorious triumphs, and dishonest scars." 



King William's War. 

Whenever England and France went to war, Englishmen 
and Frenchmen in America foolishly went to war too, instead 
of living wisely and peace- 
ably in their large territory. 
James II. succeeded his 
brother Charles II. The 
latter had secretly lived and 
died a Roman Catholic ; 
the former lived up to his re- 
ligious convictions, and was 
undoubtedly a sincere ad- 
herent of the ancient faith. 
James was but a short time 
king when he fell into trouble 
with his Protestant subjects. 

He was a comparatively 
old man when he came to 
the throne. He had two daughters married ; one 




*Vj^* 



William III. 



to \Vi\- 



V^^illiam, 
Prince of 
Orange. 



liam. Prince of Orange, and the other to George, 
Prince of Denmark. The English were in rebel- 
lion against their sovereign, and called over Wil- 
liam to their assistance. The Prince of Orange 
managed to defeat his father-in-law, and drove him into exile 
in France, where he lived a pensioner on the bounty of Louis 

HUNT. U. S. HIST. —6 Si 



S2 TBE COLONIAL WARS. 

XIV. The King of France espoused the cause of the deposed 
monarch; and this led (1689) to war between France and 
England. 

The people of Massachusetts, learning of the revolution in 
England, determined to have a little revolution of their own. 
So they seized, imprisoned, and finally sent to Eng- 
^'^Andros" l^^d, the royal governor, Sir Edmund Andros, to 
account for his usurpation and tyranny to King 
William's ministers. In this manner the New England colonies 
recovered the liberties which they had lost under James II., 
both before and after he became king. A similar revolution 
took place in New York, but under totally different circum- 
stances. Jacob Leisler, an ignorant Dutch shopkeeper, at the 
head of a mob, seized the government, and drove out Nichol- 
son, who was acting as Governor Dongan's deputy. Many of 
the better class in New York refused to submit to Leisler's 
authority, and fled to Albany which was held against him. The 
King sent out a new governor, Colonel Sloughter, who defeated 
Leisler, and put him to death for treason. 

The French settlements in Canada contained a sparse popu- 
lation, and, single-handed, could not cope with either New 
York or New England. But they were living in amrty with 
the Indians, whom they had generally treated with humanity, 
and with whom they now formed an alliance for the purpose 
of invading the English colonies. Frontenac, the governor of 
Canada, fitted out three expeditions — the first 
,.^. against New York, the second as^ainst New Hamp- 

expeditions. ^ ... 

shire, and the third against Maine. The French 
and their savage allies suddenly attacked the town of Schenec- 
tady in the dead of night and massacred sixty of the inhabi- 
tants, among whom were some women and children. The 
second expedition burned Salmon Falls, in New Hampshire, 
and murdered thirty of the people, besides taking fifty pris- 
oners. The third expedition destroyed the settlement at 
-Casco, Maine, and killed and captured a hundred of the 
inhabitants. In retaliation, Massachusetts sent out a fleet 



QUEEiV ANNE 'S WAR. 



83 



under Sir William Phipps, which captured Port Royal, in Nova 
Scotia. Another expedition, formed by New York, Massa- 
chusetts, and Connecticut, to seize Montreal and Quebec, was 
unsuccessful. 

The Indian tribes, known as the Five Nations, who had been 
long settled on the banks of the Susquehanna, and who had 
been hitherto friendly to the English, became dis- 
satisfied, and threatened to make peace with the '^^^ ^'^^ 

-_.-,, . , __. r ^ Nations. 

I*rench. At the same tmie the Kmg of France 
sent out a powerful expedition for the purpose of capturing 
Boston and New York ; but, fortunately, it arrived in American 
waters too late in the season to effect anything of importance. 
In the meantime the treaty of Ryswick (1697) put an end to 
the war in Europe, and brought peace to the colonies. 



Queen Anne's War. 

Five years after the treaty of Ryswick (1702), another war, 
known as Queen Anne's War, or the War of the Spanish Suc- 
cession, broke out between France 
and England. The royal line of 
Ferdinand and Isabella had be- 
come extinct, and Louis XIV. was 
determined to place a member of 
his family on the vacant throne. 
This would make France, already 
too powerful, the strongest nation 
in Europe, and would still further 
tend to destroy that "balance of 
power" for which William III. 
had struggled so long and so 
valiantly. War was accordingly 
declared between the two great 
nations, and their countrymen in 
the American colonies were soon involved in hostilities. 

The English greatly outnumbered the French ; but the latter, 
as in the previous war, made cruel use of their Indian allies. 




Queen Anne. 



84 



THE COLONIAL WARS. 



The chief brunt of the war fell on New England, on account of 
its exposed position and its proximity to the Canadian frontier. 
Many towns were burned, and many of their inhabitants mur- 
dered. New York was protected by the friendship of the Five 
Nations who formed a barrier against the incursions of the 
French and Indians. Two expeditions were sent 
xpe itions ^^^^ from JMassachusctts to capture Nova Scotia — 

of the war. ^ 

one in 1704 and the other in 1707 ; but both failed. 
Another expedition against Montreal, by way of Lake Cham- 
plain, also proved a failure. Finally, a more powerful expe- 
dition under Colonel Nicholson, captured Port Royal, and 
renamed it Annapolis, in honor of Queen Anne. The war 
was ended in 17 13 by the treaty of Utrecht. 

King George's War. 

In 1744 another war broke out in Europe, known as the War 
of the Austrian Succession. The Austrian emperor, Charles 

VI., dying without a male 
^ heir, was succeeded by his 

'"^ daughter, Maria Theresa. 

^ ^ ^ Her accession was in direct 

^ ^ violation of the Salic law, 

which prevailed in Austria ; 
and therefore the Elector of 
Bavaria claimed the throne, 
and was supported by the 
Bourbon kings of France and 
Spain. But the deceased 
emperor had obtained the 
consent of most of the Eu- 
ropean powers in favor of 
his daughter's succession, by 
what Avas known as the Pragmatic Sanction. England there- 
upon formed an alliance with Holland and Saxony in favor of 
the Austrian empress, and boldly declared war against France 
and Spain. 



^■'- 




George 11. 



FRENCH SETTLEMENTS, 85 

Then, as a matter of course, the English colonists were 
obliged to fight the French and Spaniards in the New World. 
The most important event in this war was the capture by 
Sir William Phipps of Louisburg, a strong fortress on the 
island of Cape Breton (1745), which had been a 
place of retreat for French privateers while preying , ^^*"^^ ° 
on American commerce. Next year the King of 
France sent out a great armament, consisting of forty ships of 
war, many transports, and a considerable force of soldiers, to 
recapture the fortress ; but it met a fate similar to that of the 
Spanish Armada in the time of Elizabeth : it was scattered 
by storms, and most of the ships were wrecked. The expedi- 
tion was a complete failure. The peace of Aix-la-Chapelle 
(1748) concluded the war; and by its terms all conquests were 
restored and among them Louisburg, to the French. 

French Explorations and Settlements. 

The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle was little more than a truce 
which gave the wearied and exhausted monarchs a rest from 
the trade of war. It failed to settle boundary lines between 
the English and French colonists in America ; so that from 
1748 to 1755, hostilities between the rival settlers were scarcely 
interrupted. Both parties perceived that the two points of 
interest — the river St. Lawrence and the valley of the Ohio — 
must be ultimately fought for if either was to be master of 
the North American continent. 

While the Spaniards were establishing themselves along the 
shores of the Gulf of Mexico, and the English along the 
Atlantic coast, the French were quietly penetrating 
the northwest by the way of the St. Lawrence and ^^ ^^ ^" 

•' •' Montreal. 

the Great Lakes. Quebec was founded in 1608 by 
Champlain, and Montreal in 161 1. The lake that now bears 
his name was discovered and explored by him ; but the unre- 
lenting hostility of the Iroquois prevented his further move- 
ments toward the south. Hence the French adventurers were 
forced to take a westerly direction. The severity of the long 



86 THE COLONIAL WARS. 

Canadian winter caused farming along the banks of the St. 
Lawrence to prove a difficult and precarious employment. 
The farmers turned fur traders, much preferring the wandering 
and adventurous life of the hunter to the drudgery of farm 
labor. 

As early as 1641 the French trading posts had extended as 
far west as Sault Ste. Marie, and in 1658 two adventurers had 
penetrated the wilderness probably as far west as the source 
of the Mississippi. Be this as it may. Father Marquette and 
Joliet unquestionably reached the Father of Waters in 1673. 
The mouth of the river, as previously narrated, had been dis- 
covered by the Spanish explorer Ferdinand de Soto 

Marquette \^ \(i^\. After the death of Marquette, the great- 

^Saiie^ est of all the French explorers, La Salle, discov- 
ered the Chicago River, which he named the 
Divine River. The Indian name, however, has outlived the 
name given by the pious Frenchman. With great energy, con- 
summate skill, and undaunted courage, he navigated the Mis- 
sissippi to the Gulf of Mexico, and claimed, in the name of 
his sovereign, all the vast territory west of the great river 
to the Rocky Mountains, and from the Gulf to the Great 
Lakes, and named it Louisiana in honor of Louis XIV., King 
of France. 

Thus from Quebec to the mouth of the Mississippi, on the 
northern shores of the Lakes, as well as on the Illinois and the 
Ohio, the French had established a chain of forts and trading 
posts, widely apart, and inhabited by a few thousand people. 
But they were supported by Indian tribes, many of whose 
braves they had converted to Christianity. A stronger bond of 
union, however, was established between them — the French 
and Indians intermarried. And although this helped the 
French in the beginning, it ultimately led to their loss of 
North America. 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 

" Sound trumpets ! — let our bloody colors wave ! 
And either victory, or else a grave." 

In consequence of the discoveries and explorations of the 
Cabots, England claimed all the territory westward from the 
Atlantic, which included the fertile valleys of the Ohio and 
the Mississippi. The French had made encroachments in 
Nova Scotia and had fortified Crown Point. They had taken 
and fortified strong positions as far east as Pittsburg, then 
called Fort Duquesne, which commanded the Ohio River. 
The previous colonial wars had originated in the 
disputes of the European monarch s ; but the the^war. 
French and Indian War originated in the disputes 
of the American colonists, which in a short time involved Eng- 
land and France in a long and bloody war. 

The immediate cause of the war was the so-called intrusion 
of the Ohio Company on the territory which the French claimed 
as their own. This company, consisting of Englishmen and 
Virginians, had obtained a grant of six hundred thousand 
acres of land on the Ohio River, for the purpose of carrying on 
the fur trade with the Indians. Hitherto the Pennsylvanians 
had conducted a profitable trade with the natives ; and fear- 
ing that the Ohio Company would turn this trade into another 
channel, these Pennsylvanians excited the fears of the Indi- 
ans, and gave secret information to the French Governor. 

The Governor of Canada immediately notified the 
governors of New York and Pennsylvania that the ^^^.^ 
French claimed all the territory between the Missis- 
sippi and the Alleghany Mountains, and that the English fur 
traders were intruders on the lands belonging to France. The 
governor seized and imprisoned some of the English traders, 

S7 



THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 



and a tribe of Indians with whom the latter had been trading 
seized in retaUation several Frenchmen, and sent them prison- 
ers to Pennsylvania. The Ohio Company, perceiving the 
danger that threatened their trade, appealed to Governor Din- 
widdle of A^irginia for protection. He laid their appeal before 
the assembly, which directed that a messenger should be sent 
to the French commander on the Ohio, to demand the reasons 
for his hostility, and to order him to abandon the forts and 
territory which of right belonged to the English. 

The person selected to perform this delicate and dangerous 
duty was a young man, then in his twenty-first year, named 
George Washington^ who was destined thereafter 



George 
Washington. 



to play so distinguished a part in the drama of 
American history. Born of a good family of Nor- 
man-English descent, and trained in the rough and hardy 
school of the land surveyor, he was thoroughly equipped in all 

respects for the mission with 
which he was intrusted. Tall, 
well-formed, and vigorous in 
mind and body, bold and cour- 
ageous, while at the same time 
cautious and prudent, he pos- 
sessed in an eminent degree 
those qualities of head and 
heart which enabled him to per- 
form a journey of four hundred 
miles, one half of which was 
through a trackless desert filled 
with treacherous Indians. He 
performed his mission with 
success ; delivered Dinwiddle's 
letter, and received a letter in return, in which the French 
Commander stated that he would forward the Governor's com- 
munication to the Governor of Canada, from whom alone he 
could receive orders, and whom alone he would obey. 

Without a formal declaration of war, the English govern- 




Washington. 



EVENTS OF 1755. 89 

ment directed the Virginians to resist the encroachments of the 
French by force of arms. Accordingly, a regiment of militia 
was raised, and Washington was assigned to command an 
expedition to expel the French from English territory. In 
1754, he reached Great Meadows in Pennsylvania, where he 
surprised and captured a small body of French soldiers. 
Here he constructed a fort, which he named Fort Necessity, 
in which he took refuge from a superior force of 
the enemy under De Villiers. But with only four ^7^^ 
hundred men he found it impossible to hold out Necessity, 
against nearly four times his numbers. After a 
fight which lasted a few hours, Washington surrendered with 
the honors of war, and was permitted to return unmolested 
to Virginia. 

The British ministry advised a union of all the English col- 
onies against the incursions of the French and Indians ; and 
accordingly, delegates from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, 
Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, to- 
gether with the Governor and Council of New York, met at 
Albany, and adopted a plan of union, which failed, 
however, to 2:ive satisfaction to the American col- 

' ^ union. 

onists, or to the English government, because each 
thought that too much power was given to the other. Had 
the British ministry intrusted the general assemblies of the 
united colonies with full power to raise money and to organize 
armies, they could have destroyed the power of France in the 
New World without aid from the mother country. But Eng- 
land was too jealous of her growing colonies to permit them to 
govern and protect their own territory unassisted by her guid- 
ing hand. 

Events of 1755. 

Four expeditions were fitted out this year ; the first against 
Nova Scotia, the second against Fort Duquesne, the third 
against Crown Point, and the fourth against Niagara. 

The expedition against Nova Scotia, consisting of three 
thousand militia from New England, and about three hundred 



90 THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 

British regulars, was commanded by General Monckton. The 

principal fort, Beause'jour, was captured, and its name changed 

to Cumberland. The whole of Nova Scotia fell into 

apture o ^^^^ hands of the English ; and in order to prevent 

Nova Scotia. ° ' ^ 

its French inhabitants from joining the Canadians, 
they were scattered among the English colonies. 

The expedition against Fort Duquesne was commanded by 
General Braddock, a brave but haughty and supercilious offi- 
cer, who scorned the advice of the provincial officers, among 
whom was George Washington who warned him against the 
danger of an ambuscade. With a force of two thousand men, 
Braddock had reached a point within twelve miles of the fort, 
when he was suddenly surprised by a deadly discharge of mus- 
ketry from a hidden enemy. Instead of falling back and find- 
ing shelter, he rashly pressed forward, exposed to a terrible fire. 

He had five horses shot under him, and was at last 
Surprise and j-^oj-tally woundcd. He lost nearly all his officers, 

defeat of -^ 

Braddock. ^^^^ about half his force. Washington greatly dis- 
tinguished himself in covering the retreat and sav- 
ing the remainder of the army from total destruction. 

General William Johnson commanded the expedition against 
Crown Point. Arriving at Lake George, he learned that a 
force of French and Indians was marching to capture Fort 
Edward, in order to destroy the provisions and military stores 
which it contained. Johnson sent out a force under Colonel 
Williams to save the fort ; but he allowed himself to be sur- 
prised by Dieskau who lay in ambush. The English were 
defeated and compelled to beat a hasty retreat. Their com- 
mander was slain. The French and Indians then pressed for- 
ward to attack the main body ; but in the severe 
e eat o conflict whicli ensued they suffered a signal defeat, 

the French. ■' ^ 

losing about eight hundred men. Dieskau was mor- 
tally wounded, and fell into the hands of the English. This 
victory, although barren of results, following so fast upon the 
defeat of Braddock had great moral influence in inspiring the 
people to prosecute the war with vigor. 



EVENTS OF 1756. 9 1 

The expedition against Niagara, under the command of Gov- 
ernor Shirley of Massachusetts, proved a complete failure. 
Dela3^s in preparation caused it to start too late in 
the season ; it was poorly supplied with provisions, 
and when it reached Oswego it was found impracticable to 
proceed farther. So, having accomplished literally nothing, it 
returned to Albany. With the exception of the conquest of 
Nova Scotia, the first year of the war was rather in favor of 
the French and their Indian allies. 

Events of 1756. 

Although hostilities had continued for nearly two years, 
war was not formally declared until May, 1756. The King 
appointed Lord Loudoun Governor of Vir- 
ginia, and commander in chief of all the 
forces in America. Not being able to 
leave England to assume his position, 
Loudoun sent out General Abercrombie 
to act as. his lieutenant until his arrival. 
Early in the year a council of the colo- 
nial governors was held in Albany, at 
which it was determined to capture the 
strong and important positions of Crown Montcalm. 

Point, Niagara, and Fort Duquesne. But 
General Abercrombie declared that the force under his com- 
mand was not large enough for the purpose. Loudoun did 
not reach America until July. In the meantime, the Marquis 
of Montcalm, a very able officer, who had been appointed 
general of the French forces, profiting by these delays, 
crossed Lake Ontario with a force of five thousand men, 
including his Indian allies, and thirty pieces of cannon, and 
laid siege to Fort Ontario on the east bank of the 
Oswego River, one of the most important positions porf Ontario 
in America. The garrison, consisting of about 
fifteen hundred men, after an obstinate resistance, retired safely 
to the old fort on the west side of the river, where they were 




92 THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 

finally forced to surrender themselves prisoners of war. Mont- 
calm seized a large quantity of provisions and military stores, 
destroyed the forts, and recrossed the lake to Canada. Owing 
to the indecision or imbecility of Loudoun and Abercrombie, 
the campaign of 1756 was particularly disastrous to the Eng- 
lish ; for Montcalm's victory gave the French complete com- 
mand of Lakes Ontario and Erie. 

Events of 1757. 

In this year the English ministry sent out an expedition for 
the capture of Louisburg. It consisted of eleven ships of war, 
fifty transports, and five thousand soldiers. The colonies had 
raised an army of six thousand men for the reduction of Ticon- 
deroga and Crown Point ; but Lord Loudoun, the royal gov- 
ernor, ordered this force to assist in the taking of Louisburg. 
As usual there were delays ; and in the meantime the French 
reenforced their stronghold by sending out seventeen war 
vessels, and increasing the garrison until it amounted to nine 
thousand men. The English expedition was therefore aban- 
doned. 

The Marquis of Montcalm, finding that Loudoun had sent 
the army intended for the north to Halifax, attacked Fort Wil- 
liam Henry, on the south shore of Lake George, with an army 
of nine thousand men, two thousand of whom were Indian 
allies. The garrison contained only three thousand men, com- 
manded by Colonel Monroe who made a most gallant defense 
for six days, expecting every moment that General Webb, who 
was only fifteen miles distant at Fort Edward, would come to 
his relief. But he would neither go himself, nor 
Surrender of pej-j^^^ g^j. wiHiam Tohnson to go with as manv 

Fort William ^ , , , T , ^^ r c 

Henry. ^^^^ ^^ would voluntcer to march to the relief ot 
the fort. The brave Colonel Monroe was forced to 
surrender ; but on account of the courage exhibited by the 
garrison, they were granted honorable terms of capitulation. 
As the men were marching out, however, they were plundered 
and cruelly butchered by Montcalm's savage Indians. This 



EVENTS OF 1758. 93 

Stain on the character of the French commander has never 
been thoroughly cleared. It is said that he tried to restrain 
the Indians ; and perhaps he is entitled to the benefit of the 
doubt. Again the weakness and delays of Lord Loudoun 
brought nothing but disgrace to the British arms. 

Events of 1758. 

Owing to the repeated disasters to the English forces in 
America, the ministry was dismissed, and the great Pitt, Earl of 
Chatham, was placed at the head of affairs. He recalled Lord 
Loudoun, and assured the colonial governors that he would sup- 
port them with a numerous army and a powerful navy. He 
asked them to raise as many troops as possible. New England, 
in response, collected a force of fifteen thousand men. Three 
expeditions were fitted out : the first against Louisburg, the 
key of the St. Lawrence ; the second against Ticonderoga, 
the key of the Lakes ; and the third against Fort Duquesne, the 
key of the western territor}^, the possession of which was the 
cause of the war. 

General Amherst, with the celebrated General Wolfe second 
in command, sailed from Halifax with thirty-eight vessels of 
war and an army of fourteen thousand men, for the 

, . ^ . , . . 1 . r Surrender of 

purpose of capturnig Louisburg. Agamst this for- Lo^isbur 
midable force the French were unable to contend. 
The garrison of six thousand men surrendered. They lost nine 
ships of war and one hundred and twenty cannon," besides 
large quantities of military stores. 

The expedition against Ticonderoga was commanded by Gen- 
eral Abercrombie, who succeeded Lord Loudoun as general 
in chief. He started out with an army of sixteen thousand 
men and a formidable train of artillery. Montcalm, with a 
garrison of four thousand troops, commanded the 
fort. The Ensflish general pluns^ed blindly into ^^^ ^^ °. 

^ ^ r- o J Abercrombie. 

the woods, and, without waiting for his guns, 

ordered an attack, which of course resulted in disaster. After 

fighting gallantly for four hours against an army sheltered 



94 THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 

behind their works, and losing two thousand men, among 
whom was Lord Howe, the second in command, the English 
were ordered by Abercrombie to withdraw and return to the 
southern shore of Lake George. 

Colonel Bradstreet obtained permission from his incompe- 
tent general to attack Fort Frontenac, at the western outlet 
of Lake Ontario. With three thousand men, he sailed down 
the lake, and landing within a mile of the fort, made a most 
brilliant assault, captured the garrison, nine armed vessels and 
a great amount of cannon and military stores. 

General Forbes, at the head of an army of eight thousand 
men, marched from Philadelphia to reduce Fort Duquesne. 
However, on arriving at the fort he found it evacuated ; and 
taking possession, he named it Pittsburg, in honor of the Eng- 
lish prime minister. 

Notwithstanding the defeat of Abercrombie at Ticonderoga, 
the results of the war this year were on the whole favorable 
to the English. The valley of the Ohio and the river St. Law- 
rence were opened ; and their possession threatened the French 
in two important positions. 

Events of 1759. 

Nothing short of the complete conquest of Canada would 
satisfy the British ministry under the leadership of William 
Pitt, Earl of Chatham. The first wise movement made by the 
government this year was the recall of the inefficient Aber- 
crombie, and the appointment of General Amherst 
Capture of ^s commandcr in chief of all the forces in America. 
Ticonderoga ^j^^ French now held three strongholds : Ticon- 

and Crown . i i 

Point. deroga and Crown Pomt, which threatened New 

York and New England ; Niagara, which was the 

connecting link between Canada and the French possessions 

on the Mississippi ; and Quebec, the strongest fortification in 

North America. 

General Amherst was successful in capturing Ticonderoga 
and Crown Point, and forcing the French to seek safety in a 



EVENTS OF 1769. 



95 



Capture of 
Niagara. 



Strongly fortified place on the northern shore of Lake Cham- 
plain. He was unable, however, to pursue them farther, owing 
to the want of suitable means of transportation. 

General Prideaux marched against Niagara, which he imme- 
diately invested. But while conducting the siege he was killed 
by the bursting of a small mortar. He was suc- 
ceeded in the command by Sir William Johnson, 
who faithfully carried out all the plans which had 
been previously agreed upon. After a general battle the fort 
was captured. 

General Wolfe was appointed to command the most difficult 
expedition of all — the capture of Quebec. He was chosen 
for this important post because, in the 
previous year, at the siege of Louisburg, 
he had shown military skill of a high 
order. He sailed from Louisburg with a 
force of eight thousand men, under con- 
voy of a large fleet of war vessels, and in 
June landed them on the island of Orleans, 
a little below the city of Quebec, which 
was built on a high and almost inacces- 
sible bluff. The lower and business part 
of the town was below this bluff, and 
almost on a level with the river. From 
Point Levi, Wolfe destroyed this place, 
no impression on the strong defenses built on the heights 
above. 

Having made several unsuccessful attempts to capture the 
citadel, he finally conceived the idea of carrying his troops, 
under cover of darkness, past the fortifications, and landing 
them at a place toward the west and south less exposed to the 
fire of the enemy. In spite of many obstacles and dangers, 
this bold and daring plan was carried out. On the morning 
of the 13th of September Wolfe had scaled the heights, and 
placed his army in battle array on the Heights of Abraham, to 
the utter amazement of Montcalm. Here a severe and bloody 




Wolfe. 



but could make 



g6 THE FREXCH AND IXDIAN WAR. 

battle was fought, whose fate depended in a great measure 

on the skill and valor of the leaders. Wolfe, although twice 

wounded, continued to encourage his men, and 

Capture of j-gfugg^^ ^o quit the field. While leading a charge 

Quebec by , . ,. , • i i • i i • i 

Wolfe ^^ ^^is grenadiers, he received a third wound in the 
breast, which proved mortal. In the agony of 
death he heard the cry, "They run — they run!" — "Who 
run ? " he asked ; and when informed that it was the French, 
he replied, " Now, God be praised ! I die happy." Montcalm 
was also wounded, and when told that the wound was mortal, 
said, •• Then I shall not live to see the surrender of Quebec." 

Five days after the battle the city surrendered to the English. 
This important victory gave Great Britain substantial posses- 
sion of Canada. The war, however, was protracted for another 
year. The French tried in vain to recover Quebec. Amherst 
captured Montreal ; and Detroit, after withstanding a siege of 
six months, was taken. The preliminaries of peace were settled 
in 1762, but it was not until 1763 that the definitive treaty of 
Paris gave Great Britain complete possession of Nova Scotia, 
Cape Breton, and Canada. 

While the English armies were engaged in the conquest of 
Canada, Virginia and the Carolinas suffered from the hostilities 
of the Cherokees. General Amherst sent Colonel Montgom- 
ery, in 1760, with a force of more than two thousand men, to 
protect the southern colonies and to punish the 
Subjugation gayages. He destroyed their villages and stores 
Cherokees ^^ food. The Indians, in retaliation, besieged Fort 
Loudoun, on the confines of Virginia. The garrison 
was starved into surrender. The terms, of capitulation were 
violated. Some who surrendered were murdered, and the others 
were carried away into captivity. Next year Colonel Grant de- 
feated the Cherokees, and so followed up his victory as to 
compel them to sue for peace. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

CAUSES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 

" Rebellion ! foul, dishonoring word, 

Whose wrongful blight so oft has stained 
The holiest cause that tongue or sword 
Of mortal ever lost or gained.'' 

The French and Indian War produced two results which 
exercised a far-reaching influence on the American colonies. 
First, it created a great war debt, amounting to $725,000,000 — 
a vast sum at Uiat time, which the British ministry resolved the 
colonists should pay in part by taxation. The specious argu- 
ment was used that the war had been conducted at great ex- 
pense for the special benefit of the colonies, to secure them 
from the incursions of the French and their savage Indian 
allies, and to give the Americans undisturbed possession of a 
continent. It w^as only fair, then, the ministry claimed, that 
the colonies should pay their share of the expenses of the 
war. The American colonists perceived the justice 
of this claim, provided they were represented in taxation 

. and repre- 

Parliament; for taxation and representation were sentation. 
inseparable. But the English government denied 
representation, and the colonists refused to pay taxes. This 
vital disagreement was the beginning of the agitation which 
ended in the establishment of the great republic of the United 
States. 

The second result of the French and Indian War greatly 
helped to make the Revolutionary War a success to the Amer- 
icans, for it furnished an admirable training school for Wash- 
ington and many of his best officers in which to learn the art of 
war by actual practice. Without this preparation, the acknowl- 
edged superiority of the American commander in chief and 

HUNT. U. S. HIST. — 7 97 



98 CAUSES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 

most of his native generals over Gage, Howe, Burgoyne, and 
Clinton, would have been, perhaps, impossible. 

In spite of the tyrannical laws restricting commerce and 
manufactures, and in spite of the arbitrary conduct and mal- 
administration of most of the royal governors, the 

Loyalty colonists had remained loyal to the throne and gov- 

coionists. ernment of England. They had always claimed that 
country as their home, as the mother country of the 
great majority of the American people. English was their lan- 
guage ; they read the same books ; they possessed the same 
manners; and they practiced the same customs. Indeed, they 
were allied by a hundred ties and associations to old England. 
They had stood shoulder to shoulder with Great Britain iji four 
wars. They had spent their blood and treasure to uphold the 
greatness and glory of the empire. It was, therefore, no slight 
cause which could impel a people as just, as sober and as 
reasonable as the American colonists, to rise in rebellion against 
their sovereign, George HI., and his government. 

The colonists had submitted to the iniquitous Navigation 
Act, which crippled their commerce and compelled them to 
send all their products to England in English ships. Importa- 
tion and exportation were simply shackled in order to enrich 
English merchants and manufacturers. Even intercolonial 
trade was hampered so that Massachusetts and Georgia could 
not freely exchange commodities. The severity of these laws 
naturally led to smuggling on a vast scale ; and 
Smuggling smuggling as naturally led to search warrants, 

and search , . , , . 

warrants, which authorized the King's officers to enter pri- 
vate houses, on suspicion that they contained goods 
on which duty had not been paid. These searches irritated 
the people beyond measure. Although the country abounded 
in timber and iron, the colonists were not allowed to build 
their own ships or to manufacture their own steel. Almost 
every article of use or luxury was imported from England. In 
the meantime, in spite of everything, the colonies had increased 
in wealth and population. Three millions of people, who had 



THE STAMP ACT. 99 

enriched themselves by thrift and industry, now occupied the 
Atlantic coast. 

From the time of Edward I. the English people had insisted 
that Parliament alone had the right to impose taxes; or, in 
other words, that the King could raise no money without the 
consent of the representatives whom they had chosen ; so that 
taxation and representation were inseparable. Strong kings 
may have violated this right of the people, and weak 
kings may have evaded constitutional principles; o/chades"i 
but even under the arbitrary rule of the Tudors, 
Parliament went through the form at least of imposing taxes. 
The usurpation of the right to raise money without the consent 
of Parliament cost Charles I. his head. As long as money was 
raised in America in the form of duties, the colonists had found 
little fault. They had submitted with the best grace they could. 
But when an attempt was made to impose a direct tax without 
representation in Parliament, the people became indignant, and 
resolved to resist the tyranny of the King and his ministers. 

In 1764 the English ministry introduced a bill in Parliament 
laying a duty on sugar, indigo, coffee, etc., for the purpose of 
helping to defray the expenses of the late war ; but as this 
duty was an indirect tax, which simply increased the cost of 
some of the necessaries of life, the people, though discon- 
tented, raised no opposition. Next year, however, when Par- 
liament passed the celebrated Stamp Act, which 
was a direct tax, actually taking money out of ^ p^^^^ 
pockets of the colonists, and putting it into the 
King's treasury, their wrath and indignation knew no bounds. 
By this act they were obliged to place government stamps 
on all deeds, bonds, notes, etc., in order to make them 
legal ; and for every stamp money had to be paid. It is 
well to remember that America was not without friends and 
advocates in Parliament and among the British people. Mr. 
Wilkes, Colonel Barre, the elder Pitt, and Edmund Burke, as 
well as many others, became the eloquent champions of 
American liberty, and pointed out in the strongest terms the 



lOO 



CAUSES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 




Otis. 



danger to the empire by continuing the present course of 
tyranny and oppression. But the stubborn King and his 
fooUsh ministers refused to listen to ad- 
vice, or to desist from their arbitrary 
measures. They seemed unconscious of 
the fact that the American people would 
not and could not live as slaves. If the 
English government could take money 
out of the pockets of the colonists with- 
out their consent, they were no longer 
freemen. 

When the news of the passage of the 
Stamp Act reached America, the colo- 
nists were roused to a high pitch of righteous wrath. Pub- 
lic meetings were held, and the speakers denounced the 
act in no measured terms. Most of the colonial assemblies 
passed strong resolutions against 
it. Writers like James Otis of Bos- 
ton, and orators like Patrick Henry 
of Virginia, stirred the people to 
a high state of excitement to op- 
pose it by all means within their 
power. As usual, the democratic 
Puritans of Massachusetts took the 
lead by recommending a Colonial 
Congress to consult for the general 
safety. Accordingly, in October, 
1765, twenty-eight members met in New York, remonstrated 
against the Stamp Act, and petitioned for its repeal. They 
also drew up a bill of rights, in which they pro- 
Coioniai claimed the great political principle that "taxation 
and representation are inseparable." 

When the act went into effect, on the first day 
of November, the brave people of Boston began to toll a 
funeral bell, and the freemen of Portsmouth made a handsome 
coffin, on which they wrote the simple and significant word, 




Henry. 



Congress, 
1765- 



NEIV TAXES. lOI 

Liberty. In some places the King's stamp officers were com- 
pelled to resign or hide themselves, in order to escape the 
wrath of an outraged people. To carry out their resistance 
the more effectually, the colonists resolved to conduct business 
without the stamps; and the merchants formed associations, 
agreeing not to import merchandise until the act was repealed. 
Even the women were determined to deny themselves the 
comforts and luxuries of life to which they had been long 
accustomed, rather than sanction the oppressive measures of 
the King of England. 

The opposition to the Stamp Act was so fierce, so bitter, 
and so general, that the ministers were compelled to do 
either of two things — each equally unpalatable — to repeal 
it or enforce it. In their wisdom they repealed 
it; but in their foolishness the repeal was ungra- stT^ °Act^ 
ciously accompanied by a declaration that the 
right inhered in Parliament to tax all the English colonies. 
When the good news of the repeal reached America, there 
was general rejoicing throughout the colonies ; business was 
resumed, and for the moment the danger of rebellion was 
averted. 

In the aggressive agitation against the Stamp Act, a power- 
ful organization, known as the Sons of Libet'ty^ had been 
formed. This society exercised great influence on the revolu- 
tionary movement by holding in check the many Tories and 
Royalists scattered over the colonies. It kept alive the fires of 
freedom, especially in the New England colonies, where oppo- 
sition to the tyranny of Great Britain was the strongest. 

The joy of the people at the repeal of the Stamp Act had 
scarcely died away when, in 1766, a new tax on glass, papers, 
painters' colors, and tea, was imposed by Parlia- 
ment. Other oppressive acts were passed, which ^^ ^'^ °" 

^^ ^ ' the colonists. 

simply served to fan the flame of hostility against 
the King and his ministers. The colonial assemblies adopted 
resolutions condemning the unwise and unjust treatment of 
the American people at the hands of the English government. 



I02 CAUSES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 

Associations were formed to support home manufactures, and 
to cease the importation of English merchandise. 

Again the assembly of Massachusetts took the lead by 
sending out circulars to the other colonies, urging them to 
resist oppression, and to use every effort to secure a redress 
of grievances. The British government was very much in- 
censed at this action, and directed the Governor of Massa- 
chusetts to require the assembly to rescind the obnoxious 
resolution. But it refused to obey such an arbitrary order. 
Whereupon the Governor dissolved the assembly. 

Boston was, at this period, the very center and hotbed of 
patriotic agitation against the oppressive measures of the 
mother country ; and in order to overawe its citizens, General 
Gage, the commander in chief of his Majesty's forces in Amer- 
ica, was ordered to occupy the town with a garrison of seven 
hundred men. But the descendants of the Puritans were not 
the men to be easily frightened by the presence of 
Boston ^ £g^y regular soldiers, for whom they refused to 

occupied by 

militia. provide quarters. The Governor then ordered them 
to occupy the State House. As might be expected 
under these circumstances, frequent collisions occurred be- 
tween the people and the military, in one of which several 
citizens were killed, and others wounded. These acts served 
to widen the breach between England and America, and to 
destroy the hope of many Royalists that a reconciliation might 
yet be effected. 

In 1769 both houses of Parliament, in an address to the 

King, requested him to give the Governor of Massachusetts 

orders to send those persons guilty of treason to England, to 

be tried there for their lives. This was tyranny of 

Colonial ^^ most wicked kind. To try a man for his life 

assemblies , . ^ , , . • 1 . • 

by a jury of strangers and enemies was a violation 
of the English Constitution, and a mockery of jus- 
tice. The royal governors of Massachusetts, Virginia, and 
North Carolina dissolved the colonial assemblies, and there- 
after tried to govern as military despots. 



SECOND COLO XI A L CONGRESS. IO3 

In 1770 Lord North became prime minister of England ; 
and one of his first acts was to abolish all the taxes except 
that on tea. This was a very cunning movement on the part 
of the premier ; for few but the wealthy drank tea in those 
days, and most of the rich were Royalists, who 

, , , . , , Tax on tea. 

would not object to threepence a pound on tea. 
But Lord North could not understand that the Americans 
cared very little about the amount of taxation. It was not 
money that they struggled for; it was for 2. pri7iciple — the 
principle that taxation and representation were inseparable. 
The right to tax the colonies threepence, presupposed the 
right to tax them indefinitely. 

In 1773 great quantities of tea were shipped to America by 
the British East India Company, without first paying duty in 
England, so that the colonists could obtain their tea cheaper 
than it could be purchased in the mother country. But this 
device, crafty as it was, utterly failed to secure its purpose. 
New York and Philadelphia closed their ports 
against the tea ships ; and in Boston some of the ^^^ p^^°" „ 
people, disguised as Indians, boarded the ships in 
the presence of thousands, seized the tea chests, and flung their 
contents into the harbor. This was the celebrated ^''Boston 
Tea Party:' 

Then, in retaliation, Parliament passed the Boston Port Bill, 
which prohibited the landing and shipping of merchandise at 
Boston, and made Salem the port of entry. But the latter 
nobly declined to become rich at the expense of the former. 
Many of the merchants of Boston were ruined by this iniqui- 
tous act, but their spirit of hostility to every form of oppression 
could not be subdued. They were willing to suffer and, if need 
be, die in the holy cause of liberty. 

In 1774 a Second Colonial or First Continental 

„ . . p . r 1 Continental 

Congress, consistmg of representatives from eleven congress, 
colonies, met at Philadelphia. Its first act was to 
commend Massachusetts for her noble stand against tyrants. 
It formulated a declaration of rights, and it recommended a 



First 



I04 CAUSES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 

suspension of commercial relations with England. It voted an 
address to the King, to the people of Great Britain and to the 
Canadian colonists. 

In order to meet these aggressive measures, General Gage 
was made military governor of Massachusetts. He immedi- 
ately fortified Boston Neck; and seized all the military stores 
in the arsenals at Cambridge and Charlestown, and had them 
transferred to Boston. The assembly of Massachu- 
Committees ^^^^^ formed itsclf into committees of safety and 

of safety. _ ... 

supplies, and voted to raise a provincial militia to 

the number of twelve thousand men. Similar preparations, 

though not to the same extent, were made in the other colonies. 

Finally the people of Massachusetts were declared rebels ; 

and the British government, for the purpose of subduing them, 

sent over an army of ten thousand regular soldiers. Thus were 

brought face to face in deadly conflict a mighty 

Soldiers in g^ipij-g possessing vast resources, and thirteen 

Massachu- ,,,,. •• 

setts. Sparsely settled colonies containing about three 
million of inhabitants, nearly a third of whom were 
Royalists. But the cause of the colonies was the cause of 
right and justice, of law and liberty ; and, sustained and de- 
fended by some of the greatest men the world has ever known, 
it finally triumphed. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 

" For freedom's battle once begun, 
Bequeathed by bleeding sire to son, 
Though baffled oft, is ever won." 

The First Engagements, 1775. 

During the winter of 1774 and 1775, General Gage and the 
Provincial Assembly prepared for the struggle which now 
seemed inevitable. The patriots had 
purchased military stores and placed 
them in Concord and Worcester. The 
British commander sent out a detach- 
ment of eight hundred soldiers and ma- 
rines under the command of Colonel 
Smith, to seize and destroy the guns 
and ammunition in Concord. The 
march was made on April 18 by night, 
in order to hide the movement and to 
surprise the people before the Com- 
mittee of Safety could warn them of 
their danger and prepare them to resist the enemy. 

The night was clear and frosty. The march was twenty 
miles northwest of Boston. But the secret could not be kept. 
Every movement was closely watched by the Americans. Paul 
Revere made his celebrated midnight ride, arousing 
the people and warning Hancock and Adams, at 
Lexington, of the intended attack. Colonel Smith, finding that 
the Sons of Liberty were informed of all his plans, sent back 
to Boston for reenforcements. General Gage ordered out the 
first brigade under Lord Percy ; but, owing to blunders and de- 
lays, it was obliged to take a circuitous route, and was only 

105 




Paul Revere. 



I06 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 

able, late in the day, to cover the retreat and save the British 
troops under Smith from destruction. 

Colonel Smith ordered Major Pitcairn, with six companies of 
light infantry and a body of marines, to take possession of the 
bridges over the Concord River. He hurried forward his force, 
and early in the morning reached Lexington Common, where 
on the green, in front of the meetinghouse, he found 
Lexhli ton ^^^^ " minutcmen " formed in battle array, under the 
command of John Parker, who had had experience 
as a soldier in the French and Indian War. Parker, perceiving 
that the Americans were greatly outnumbered, wisely ordered 
a retreat. But at this moment Pitcairn rode forward and ex- 
claimed, " Disperse, ye rebels ! Disperse ! " 

Each side was anxious not to fire the first shot, and which 
fired it is still a matter of doubt. Probably the war began in 
this way. There was a flash in the pan of the gun of a " min- 
uteman," which was immediately followed by a murderous 
discharge of musketry from the infantry, perhaps without 
orders, by which seven men were killed and ten wounded, out 
of a total of seventy. The Americans returned the fire and 
killed and wounded two or three of the English. The British 
soldiers then pressed forward to Concord, distant eight miles 
from Lexington. Here they found the whole country aroused. 
The minutemen for thirty miles around had shouldered their 
guns and rushed to the assistance of their brethren. Colonel 
Barrett, seeing that he was unable to cope with so large a 
force, retreated from Concord and took a position on a hill 
a short distance behind the town. 

Colonel Smith immediately commenced the work he had 
been sent to do — the destruction of the cannon and military 
stores. But perceiving that he could not maintain his position 
in Concord, he ordered a retreat, which proved terribly disas- 
trous. The minutemen knew every rod of ground, every hill 
and valley, and every house and barn on the road between 
Concord and Boston, and at every favorable position, from 
behind stone walls and wooden fences, they kept up a deadly 



EVENTS OF 1775. 10/ 

fire on the British soldiers. Including Lord Percy's reenforce- 
ment, the English troops engaged in the battle of Lexington 
amounted to one thousand seven hundred, of whom 
sixty-five were killed, one hundred and seventy-eight ^ ^^^*.°! 

^ ... -^ » the British. 

wounded, and twenty-six missing. The loss on 

the side of the Americans was ninety. It was only with great 

difficulty that the British found shelter in the city of Boston, 

no longer feeling contempt for the " undisciplined Yankees."' 

Thus began the long and bloody war which ended in complete 

separation from England and in the establishment of American 

Independence. 

As the news of the battle of Lexington was rapidly spread 
throughout the colonies, the patriots were aroused to a high 
pitch of enthusiasm. They found that their raw militia could 
fight the trained soldiers of England. Everywhere all over 
New England the people sprang to arms. Boston was sur- 
rounded on the land side by an army variously estimated at 
from ten to thirty thousand men ; and the sea alone was open 
to the British. From the moment the defeated 
troops under Smith and Percy found shelter in the ^^^^ ° 

^ •' Boston. 

town, the siege of Boston began. Boston Neck was 
completely commanded by a strong fort on the high land above 
the Roxbury meetinghouse. General Artemas Ward was the 
senior officer of the Massachusetts militia ; and Spencer of Con- 
necticut, Greene of Rhode Island, and Folsom of New Hamp- 
shire readily obeyed his orders, which were issued rather as 
requests. It was here, in the construction of military defenses, 
that Henry Knox, a young bookseller of Boston, first distin- 
guished himself. Israel Putnam of Pomfret left his plow in 
the field, mounted his horse, and rode away to Concord. He 
placed himself at the head of over two thousand men, and 
marched them to the defense of Charlestown Neck. 

Just as soon as the news of the battle of Lexington had 
been published in England, the ministry perceived that war 
had begun in earnest. At the urgent solicitation of General 
Gage, reenforcements were sent over to America under the 



I08 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 

command of three weak generals, Howe, Clinton, and Bur- 
goyne ; and when informed, on their arrival, that five thousand 
regular troops were cooped up in Boston by ten thousand " peas- 
ants," as they termed the patriots, they were astonished and 
mortified. Something must be done, or the honor of the British 
arms would be forever ruined. Both sides perceived the great 
importance of occupying Charlestown and Dorchester Heights, 
General Ward, on the American side, ordered a detachment 
under Colonel Prescott to take possession of the hill above 
Charlestown, and to provide themselves with packs, blankets, 
intrenching tools, and provisions for twenty-four hours. 

On the evening of the i6th of June, the expedition crossed 

Charlestown Neck and took a position on Bunker Hill. A 

council of war was held to consider whether it was 

Battle of ^^. ^^ fortify this hill, or Breeds Hill farther to 

Bunker Hill. -^ , i • , i i i ti 

the south ; and it was decided, after much delibera- 
tion, that it was better to fortify the latter, as it commanded the 
British fleet. Military critics have since pronounced the forti- 
fying of Breeds Hill a mistake. When the decision was reached, 
Colonel Gridley, a veteran of the French and Indian War, threw 
up a redoubt eight rods square, between midnight and morn- 
ing ; and then sent his intrenching implements to Putnam, to 
enable him to throw up earth works at Bunker Hill. 

The British, on discovering the redoubt, opened a severe 
fire on it from their ships, their floating batteries, and from 
Copps Hill ; but with very little damage, only one man being 
killed. It was evident to the English oflicers that unless the 
Americans were driven from this strong position, they could no 
longer remain in Boston. General Gage therefore formed two 
columns, amounting together to three thousand soldiers, under 
the command of Generals Howe and Pigot, and ordered them 
to cross the Charles River and dislodge the Americans. As 
they advanced to the attack, they discharged their muskets at 
too great a distance ; but the patriots reserved their fire until 
the enemy was quite near them, and then it was terrible, mow- 
ing down their ranks by hundreds. The British were forced to 



EVENTS OF 1775. 



109 



retreat in confusion. Their officers rallied them at the foot of 
the hill, even urging them forward at the point of their swords, 
and bravely led them to a second attack. This time the Amer- 
icans allowed them to approach closer than before ; and then 
the fire was so deadly that the British fled a second time in 
terror down the hill. Unfortunately, however, the ammunition 
of the Americans was exhausted. And at this moment Gen- 
eral Clinton arrived on the field with reenforcements, and the 
British were rallied to make a third attack, which was success- 
ful. The Americans retreated slowly across Charlestown Neck, 
clubbing their muskets, and fighting hand to hand against the 
English bayonets, and exposed to a galling cannonade from 
the enemy's war ships. The patriots quickly threw up earth- 
works on Prospect Hill, which still commanded the entrance 
to Boston. 

The British accomplished their object. They captured 
Bunker Hill but at a fearful cost. Their loss was over a 
third of their whole force engaged in the battle, or 
a little more than a thousand men. The Ameri- Nominal 
can loss was less than half that number out of a the British, 
total of fifteen hundred men who fought under 
Prescott and Putnam. Among the killed were Dr. Warren, 
the distinguished patriot, and Major Pitcairn, who began the 
war. While the battle was raging, General Gage was guilty 
of a wanton act of cruelty in ordering the burning of Charles- 
town, which deprived two thousand people of their homes, and 
caused the destruction of $600,000 worth of property. 

After the battle of Lexington the majority of the American 
people became convinced that peace was impossible, and that 
the sword alone could end the dispute between Great Britain 
and her American colonies. The protracted agitation, extend- 
ing over a period of ten years, had only embittered and exas- 
perated the oppressor and the oppressed. George IH. and 
his ministers were determined to crush out all opposition by 
main force ; and the Continental Congress was equally re- 
solved to resist and to fight and die, if need be, for liberty. 



I I O THE RE VOL UTIONA RY WAR. 

The Second Continental Congress met, May lo, at Phila- 
delphia, and addressed the King and people of Great Britain 
and Ireland, showing the wrongs which the colonies 
Second i^g^^ suffered, and giving to the world their reasons 

con^ress^ for an appeal to arms. They voted to raise an 
army of twenty thousand men, and elected a mem- 
ber of their body, George Washington of Virginia, commander 
in chief of all the forces raised, or about to be raised, for the 
maintenance of American liberty. At the same time they ap- 
pointed Artemas Ward of Massachusetts his first major general. 
They also appointed several other generals, to represent, as far 
as possible, the several colonies. Two Englishmen, Charles 
Lee and Horatio Gates, were elected to high offices in the 
American army, on account of their supposed military talents. 
This was the only mistake made by a body of men remarkable 
for their ability, wisdom, and integrity ; for both these generals 
were afflicted with inordinate vanity, conceit, and pomposity, 
and afterwards greatly injured the cause they were chosen to 
serve. 

The selection of Washington, however, amply compensated 
for any mistakes that Congress may have made. He was now 
in the forty-fourth year of his age, in the prime of his faculties, 
a soldier trained in the French and Indian War, familiar with 
civil as well as military affairs, and of a courage and tenacity of 
purpose only equaled by his modesty and fortitude. It would 
seem as if Providence had specially preserved and fitted him 
to be the liberator of a brave people and the founder of a 
great republic. In accepting the exalted office which had 
been urged upon him, and by none more strenuously than by 
the delegates from Massachusetts, the colony in which the war 
had already begun, he said, " I beg it may be remembered by 
every gentleman in the room, that I this day declare, with the 
utmost sincerity, I do not consider myself equal to the com- 
mand I am honored with." He declined all salary for his 
services, and simply asked Congress to pay his expenses. A 
resolution was adopted in which Congress declared that the 



EVENTS OF 1775. Ill 

people would maintain and assist him, and adhere to him with 
their lives and fortunes in the cause of American liberty. 

On the 2d of July, Washington reached Cambridge, and was 
received with acclamations of joy. He found the American 
army, consisting of about sixteen thousand men, 
stretched from Roxbury to the Mystic River, a a^Bogfop" 
distance of twelve miles. General Ward was placed 
in command of the right wing, and General Lee of the left; 
Washington took command of the center. The commander 
in chief had a most difficult task to perform. His troops 
were untrained militia, unaccustomed to subordination, almost 
devoid of tents and ammunition, and without regular supplies 
of provisions. But by his skill and energy he quickly intro- 
duced organization and discipline, so that he was soon en- 
abled to carry on a regular and formal siege of Boston. His 
next step was to ascertain the strength of the enemy, which 
he thought amounted to eleven thousand five hundred men, 
including sailors and marines. Washington found the greatest 
difficulty in obtaining gunpowder ; and had the British made 
an assault during the winter, before supplies had ^^^ ^^ 
been secured, the result would have been most superseded 
disastrous to the Americans. The heavy loss sus- ^y ^ir Wm. 
tained at Bunker Hill made the British exceed- °^^' 

ingly cautious about forcing a battle. The English ministry 
was so dissatisfied with General Gage, that he was recalled, 
and Sir William Howe was appointed to the chief command. 

The battle of Lexington proved to the American people that 
the war- was likely to be continued indefinitely. It was there- 
fore necessary that the important fortresses at the south of 
Lake Champlain, Ticonderoga and Crown Point, ^^ tureof 
should be in the hands of the Americans, in order Ticonderoga 
to prevent an invasion of New York by way of and Grown 
Lake Champlain and the Hudson River, which Point, 
would separate the Middle from the New England States. 
Colonels Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold, with volunteers 
from Connecticut and Vermont (the latter the famous '^ Green 



112 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 

Mountain Boys "), marched against Ticonderoga, and on the 
loth of May took it by surprise. They found the garrison 
asleep; and when the commander, Captain Delaplace, awoke, 
he appeared half-dressed, and demanded to know by whose 
authority he was to surrender the fortress. Allen replied, 
"//^ the name of the great Jehovah and the Continental Congress'' 
About the same time Colonel Seth Warner captured Crown 
Point. In the two forts the Americans captured two hundred 
and twenty pieces of cannon, besides a large quantity of 
ammunition and military stores. 

Congress, learning that General Carleton, governor of Can- 
ada, was making preparations to retake Ticonderoga and 

Crown Point, was determined not only to secure 
"canada° ^^^^^^ forts, but to test the loyalty of the Canadians 

to the British crown, and to make them, if possible, 
allies in the struggle for freedom. It was understood that 
the common people sympathized with the Americans, while 
the upper class adhered to their oppressor. General Philip 
Schuyler was ordered to repair without delay to Ticonderoga, 
and, if he found it practicable, to take possession of St. Johns 
and Montreal. Having collected twelve hundred men, he 
sailed down Lake Champlain, and landed at St. Johns, but 
found it advisable to retire to Isle aux Noix. Here Schuyler 
was taken sick, and the command devolved on General Rich- 
Montgomery ^"^^ Montgomery, the officer next in rank, who after 
captures a fcw wccks' sicgc capturcd St. Johns on the 3d 
St, Johns. Qf November. He then proceeded to invest Mont- 
real; and planting batteries on both sides of the St. Lawrence, 
cut off all communications with Quebec. Governor Carleton, 
distrusting the loyalty of the people, fled with his little garri- 
son ; and on the 13th of November Montreal fell into the 
hands of the Americans. 

Montgomery then moved rapidly against Quebec. In the 
meantime Arnold had been sent from Cambridge by Washing- 
ton with one thousand men, by way of Maine, to invade Can- 
ada. He forced a passage up the Kennebec, traversed dense 



EVENTS OF 1775. II3 

forests, crossed rugged mountains, and penetrated through dis- 
mal swamps, losing in the march, by hardships and sickness, 
half his little army. Having reached the St. Lawrence, he 
ascended the Heights of Abraham ( where Wolfe had gained 
his famous victory), and tried to force a battle ; but the Eng- 
lish general, fearing the fate of ]\Iontcalm, preferred to remain 
behind his fortifications. Carleton arriving from Montreal 
with reenforcements, Arnold was obliged to withdraw and 
await the arrival of Montgomery. Montgomery joined him 
on the I St of December, and assumed the command of the 
combined force, amounting to three thousand men. The for- 
mal siege of Quebec was commenced ; but the artillery of the 
Americans could make little impression on a fortress so strong 
and so admirably situated for defense. Finally it was deter- 
mined to carry the town by storm. One column, led by Arnold, 
was to advance against the lower town, and another column, 
led by Montgomery, was to scale the rocky heights and attack 
the upper town. On the 31st of December, a dark and stormy 
night, the combined attack was made. At first the 
assault promised success ; but the death of the ^^^^^ ^* 

^ ' Quebec. 

brave Montgomery, who was shot at the head of 
his troops while urging them forward with the words, ^'Push 
on., brave hoys ! Quebec is ours,'" discouraged his troops, who 
fell back in confusion. Arnold was wounded, and the com- 
mand devolved on Morgan, who actually scaled the walls, and 
would have captured the fortress had he been properly sup- 
ported. Arnold then retired about three miles from Quebec, 
where he awaited reenforcements ; but none arriving, he was 
compelled to abandon the siege. 

Post after post was retaken by the English, and shortly the 
whole of Canada was relinquished. Perhaps this 
defeat was just as well for the cause of liberty; abandoned 
for the attempt to hold the vast territory watered by the 
by the St. Lawrence would undoubtedly have ^'"^"*^^"^- 
weakened the American army at points where soldiers were 
most needed. 

HUNT. U. S. HIST. — 8 



1 1 4 THE RE VOL UTIONA RY WAR. 

In the contest for freedom, Virginia, the home of the Cava- 

Uer, rivaled Massachusetts, the home of the Puritan ; and in 

the agitation wliich preceded the outbreal^ of hostiUties, the 

oldest of the thirteen colonies had not been slow, 

The last under the leadership of men like Patrick Henry, 

°^*^^ in taking measures for defense. The Virg-inians 

royal ^ ^ 

governors, ^^^<^ Collected arms and ammunition, and stored 
them in a magazine for future use, if necessary. 

This aroused the suspicion of Lord Dunmore, the royal gov- 
ernor, who proceeded to remove these military stores. The 
patriots naturally resented the seizure of their property, and 
gave vent to their feelings in such expressions as caused the 
governor to take refuge on board a man-of-war, from which 
position of safety he issued harmless proclamations, instituting 
martial law, and proffering freedom to such slaves as would 
leave their masters. 

He then equipped a number of armed vessels ; and when 
the people refused to sell him provisions, he wantonly burned 
the town of Norfolk, causing a great destruction of property, 
and depriving six thousand persons of their habitations. 
Shortly afterwards his lordship sailed away to England, fol- 
lowed by the royal governors of North and South Carolina. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR — Continued. 

" Where may the wearied eye repose 

When gazing on the great ? 
Where neither guilty glory glows, 

Nor despicable state ? 
Yes one, the first, the last, the best, 
The Cincinnatus of the W'est, 

Whom envy dared not hate, 
Bequeathed the name of Washington 
To make men blush there was but one." 



Events of 1776. 

It is difficult to state with any degree of accuracy the exact 
strength of the army with which Washington invested Boston. 
Owing to leaves of absence and the expiration of terms of 
enlistment, it was doubtless a 
varying quantity, at one time 
as high as twenty thousand 
men, and again as low as nine 
thousand. Congress was very 
anxious that Boston should be 
captured, in order to release 
the army there so that it might 
be transferred to points where 
it was needed. In the begin- 
ning of February, by strenuous 
efforts, the American army was 
raised to fourteen thousand ef- 
fective soldiers. 

Washington was often blamed by members of Congress, and 
even by military officers of high rank, for his most useful char- 
acteristic — caution. These critics forgot that he had only 

115 




Washington. 



Il6 THE KEVOLUT/OA'ARY IVAR. 

untrained militia with which to oppose the veteran troops 
of England. Prudence was indispensable. A defeat before 
Boston would have ruined the cause. And yet he was not 
deficient in dash where dash was necessary, as was 
Washing- s,^ibsequently proved at Trenton and Princeton ; and 
caution even at the council of war which he called in the 
beginning of March, 1776, he showed the aggres- 
sive instinct of the soldier in recommending a direct assault 
on the town. But it was the general opinion of his officers 
that it was too dangerous. 

It was agreed, however, that they would seize and fortify 
Dorchester Heights, which would command both the entire 
city and the men-of-war in the harbor. To effect this purpose, 
a covering party of eight hundred men, followed by 
Dorchester ^ working party of twelve hundred with intrench- 
ing tools, on the night of the 4th of March took 
possession of the Heights unobserved by the enemy. The 
Americans with great vigor constructed fortifications which 
completely protected them from the fire of the British. In 
the morning when the enemy perceived these works they 
were very much astonished, and saw very clearly that unless 
they were dislodged Boston must be abandoned. An attempt 
was made to capture the Heights, but a furious storm caused 
the harbor to be impassable ; and the delay which ensued 
was fatal to the enterprise. For Washington so extended and 
strengthened the works as to make an attack useless, if not 
disastrous. 

Howe saw that the evacuation of Boston was inevitable ; 

and accordingly, on Sunday, the 17th of March, under an 

informal agreement, by which the Americans were 

Evacuation ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^p^^^ ^j^^ British, and the British were 

Boston ^^*^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^ town, Howe sailed away to 
Halifax with seven thousand soldiers and a great 
number of Tories who preferred English tyranny to Ameri- 
can freedom. As the rear guard of the British marched out 
of Boston, the advance guard of the Americans entered it, 



EVENTS OF 1776. 



117 




Howe. 



amid the beating of drums, the waving of colors, and loud 
acclamations of joy. Never again did the English gain a 
foothold in New England ; they 
were expelled, and expelled for- 
ever. 

South Carolina, as well as Vir- 
ginia, stood shoulder to shoul- 
der with Massachusetts in the 
struggle for freedom. The State 
had organized three regiments, 
two on the Continental plan, 
and one as a body of rangers. 
General Charles Lee was in 
command, with headquarters in 
Charleston. Colonel Moultrie 
had fortified Sullivans Island, 
mainly with palmetto wood. 

Colonel Gadsden held James Island, which was really a part 
of the mainland. 

Howe, after his evacuation of Boston, had sailed to Halifax 
with his seven thousand soldiers. He was determined, how- 
ever, that they should not be idle ; so he organized an expedi- 
tion against the South, and Charleston was the 
point of attack. On the 28th of June, Sir Henrv ^^"^,*'^°" 

^ , _ . ' Charleston. 

Clinton and Admiral Parker appeared in Charleston 
Harbor with a powerful armament, consisting of two fifty-gun 
ships and five frigates of twenty-eight guns each. The British 
troops landed on Long Island, which w^as north of Sullivans 
Island ; but they could effect nothing, owing to the deadly 
fire of Thompson's rangers. The men-of-war opened a ter- 
rific fire on the fort ; but the cannon balls simply buried 
themselves in the soft, spongy wood, without sending off splin- 
ters, and therefore did little damage to the brave garrison. 
At the same time Colonel Moultrie's guns were so well served 
that they swept the decks of the men-of-war, killing and 
wounding a great number of the men and officers. Some of 



Il8 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 

the ships were very much injured, and one of them was set on 
fire and abandoned. 

At one time, during the heat of the conflict, the flag of the 
fort was shot down, and fell into the ditch, and there was 
danger that the other defenders of Charleston would think 
that Colonel Moultrie had surrendered. Immediately a young 
sergeant named William Jasper leaped over the parapet, amid 
a shower of shot and shell, and replaced on the 

British bastion the blue banner bearing the word Libe?'ty. 

defeat at ^, . . , * -^ 

Charleston. ^^^^ Americans gained a splendid victory. Clin- 
ton and Parker sailed to New York; and the South 
was saved from invasion for two years. 

For over a year the American patriots had waged war as 
" traitors " and " rebels " against the King of Great Britain ; 
and had Washington or any of his officers been captured, they 
were liable, according to the laws of England, to be " hanged, 
drawn, and quartered." In the beginning of the struggle it 
was thought by many that George III. and his ministers would 
ultimately yield, and grant the American people their just 
rights ; but as the war continued, some of those who dreaded 
separation either returned to England or removed to New 
Brunswick or Nova Scotia. Those who remained, or could not 

indepen- leave, became either malignant Tories or ardent 
dence patriots. Gradually the question of independence 

discussed. ^^^^ discusscd in the press and by pamphlet by 
all classes, in town meetings and State assemblies. It was 
clearly proved that independence would secure for W'ashing- 
ton and his army belligerent rights under the laws of civilized 
warfare, as well as the aid and support of foreign nations. 

While Colonel Moultrie was defeating Clinton and Parker in 
Charleston Harbor, the Continental Congress was in session at 
Philadelphia. Many of its bravest and wisest members saw 
that the time was ripe for severing all connection with the 
crown and government of Great Britain. The people were 
now prepared for complete separation. On the yth of June, 
Richard Henry Lee of Virginia made a motion to declare 



EVENTS OF 1776, IIQ 

America free and independent, and in support of it he de- 
livered an able and eloquent oration, in which he uttered 
these memorable words: "Why then do we longer 
delay ; why still deliberate ? Let this most happy Henry Lee. 
day give birth to the American Republic." But 
delay was necessary. The deputies from Maryland and Penn- 
sylvania were absent, and Congress desired time to mature 
their plans. Hence the consideration of Lee's motion was 
postponed until the ist of July. In the meantime, a com- 
mittee, consisting of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benja- 
min Franklin, Roger Sherman, and R. R. Livingston, was 
appointed to prepare the Declaration. At the same time two 
other committees were appointed, one on 27ie formation of 
foreign alliances^ and the other on A plan of amfederation. 

During the interval between June 7 and July 2, the great 
question of independence was exhaustively discussed. Some 
of the deputies from the middle and southern colonies were 
not yet convinced of the wisdom or necessity for separation, 
— for breaking the tie that bound them to the mother country. 
Finally, on July 2, 1776, the real Declaration of Independence 
was adopted in these words: "That these United 
Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and declaration 

of Inde- 

independent States ; that they are absolved from pendence. 
all allegiance to the British Crown ; and that all 
political connection between them and the State of Great 
Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved." The Decla- 
ration of Independence, with the reasons therefor, as now 
annually commemorated, was written by Thomas Jefferson, 
and adopted on the 4th of July, every member of Congress 
voting for it. And well they might, for it is the greatest state 
paper that ever emanated from the mind of man. 

The stubborn King of Great Britain was determined, at any 
cost of men or money, to compel the American colonies to sub- 
mit to his authority. He made great efforts to raise an army 
of forty thousand men, and to equip a fleet, manned by over 
twenty thousand seamen, for the purpose of completely subju- 



120 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 

gating the American patriots. He drew upon his garrisons in 

the West Indies, Ireland, and Gibraltar ; but even after calling 

over his Hanoverians he could raise only twenty-three thousand 

to recruit the army in America. He purchased 

Hessians° ^^"^^P^ from the German princes of Hesse-Cassel, 
Brunswick, Hanau, and from others, at so much a 
head, and incorporated them with his army. These soldiers 
were all known during the war as " Hessians." 

Having lost Boston, and failed to take Charleston, the city 
of New York became of vital importance to the British. Its 
position between New England and the South, situated on an 
island, with two navigable rivers, one east and the other west, 
and a magnificent harbor to the south, rendered it of great 
value as a center from which to strike in any direction ; and 
once in possession of the English, the British fleet could 
always prevent its capture by the Americans. Besides, nearly 
half the inhabitants were friendly Tories. 

General Charles Lee, in command at New York, although he 
had expressed the opinion that the town could not be held, 
proceeded to erect fortifications at the Battery, and on Brook- 
lyn Heights. But before his works were completed he was 
transferred to the South, and Alexander Lord Stirling was 
appointed in his place. 

After the evacuation of Boston, Washington foresaw that 
the next movement of the enemy would be against New York. 
Consequently he hurried twenty-two regiments to what he 
believed would be the new theater *of war. These troops 
formed five divisions, under their respective commanders, Put- 
nam, Heath, Sullivan, Spencer, and Greene, the first named 
being general in chief until the arrival of Washington. Put- 
nam seized and fortified Governors Island, Red 

u nam Hook on Lonff Island, and Paulus Hook on the 

fortifies _ ^ ' 

New York. Jersey side of the Hudson. In order to prevent 

the passage of British men-of-war up the East 

River, he sank hulks between Governors Island and the 

Battery. A strong fort was erected on the palisades called 



EVENTS OF 1776. 121 

Fort Lee, and another on Washington Heights on the New 
York side called Fort Washington, for the purpose of prevent- 
ing the British vessels from passing up the Hudson. Eighty 
pieces of cannon and mortars were mounted, bearing on the 
bay and the two rivers. The town, in fact, was turned into an 
intrenched camp. 

As Washington had foreseen, the enemy arrived during the 
last days of June. General Sir William Howe came from 
Halifax with the troops he had taken from Boston in advance 
of his main army. His brother. Admiral Lord Howe, followed 
with one hundred and thirty ships, containing the 
Hessians and other reenforcements. Clinton also ^"^lands 

powerful 

arrived from Charleston. The entire army of in- armament, 
vasion numbered thirty-two thousand men, twenty- 
five thousand of whom were fit for duty. Washington's whole 
force was about nineteen thousand, but most of them were 
poorly armed and equipped, and lacked organization and dis- 
cipline. Clinton was second in command of the British, and 
Earl Percy third. 

While preparations were being made for this important battle 
— a battle which the British hoped would crush the Americans 
and end the contest — Admiral Howe, acting under instructions 
from the English ministry, endeavored to open negotiations 
for peace. He sent a letter addressed to George Washington, 
Esq. But it was returned by the general's aid-de- 
camp, with the statement that he knew no such ^^^ British 

'■ open nego- 

person as George Washington, Esq. A second tiations. 
letter was sent, addressed to His Excellency, Gen- 
eral Washington. But the negotiations resulted in nothing ; 
for the admiral had only power to offer "pardon" to such 
" rebels " as would lay down their arms and return to their 
homes, and Washington declined all negotiations that did not 
first acknowledge the independence of the United States of 
America. 

On August 2 2, Howe transferred his army from Staten 
Island to Long Island, and occupied the villages of Gravesend, 



122 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 

Utrecht, Flatlands, and Flatbush. The battle, however, was 
not commenced until the morning of August 27, when General 

Grant's column made an attack on the Americans, 
L ^ I 1 d d^o'^^ i^ their pickets, and captured a few prisoners. 

He then formed his lines on the present site of 
Greenwood Cemetery, and assaulted the troops under Lord 
Stirling three times, and three times they were repulsed. In 
the meantime, Howe executed a flank movement to the right; 
and, guided by Tories, made a night march toward New Lots. 
Before daylight the next morning he had reached the village 
of New Bedford, within four miles of the American army. 
The failure of Putnam to defend the Jamaica pass was fatal. 
That portion of the army under Sullivan fought bravely, and 
was beaten badly. Sullivan was taken prisoner. 

The Hessians stationed at Flatbush, hearing Howe's fire 
on the left, marched rapidly against the broken columns, and 
completely put them to rout. Lord Stirling still held his 
ground in spite of all Grant's efforts with his superior num- 
bers to dislodge him. But hearing the noise of battle behind 
him, and receiving no orders, he fell back along the Gowanus 
road, which was in possession of the British under Cornwallis. 

Determined to force his passage across the marsh, 

Defeat Stirlins:, with a small part of his force, repeatedly 
of the ^' , , . 1 

Americans, charged the enemy; but being greatly outnum- 
bered he was compelled to surrender. By two 
o'clock in the afternoon, the battle was ended. The American 
loss was about twelve hundred, that of the British about a 
third of that number. 

Had General Greene not been lying sick of fever in New 
York, the battle of Long Island would have had a different 
ending, for he would never have permitted the British to attack 
him in the rear. While the battle was raging, Washington 
crossed over to Brooklyn, and did all in his power to repair the 
disaster to his army. He sent to New York for more troops ; 
and on August 28, he found that he had nearly ten thousand 
soldiers intrenched on the- Brooklyn side of the river. Op- 



EVENTS OF 1776. 1 23 

posed to them were eighteen thousand veteran troops, flushed 
with victory and equipped with all the appliances of war; 
behind them the East River. Destruction seemed inevitable. 
Fortunately, on the 28th and 29th it rained incessantly; so 
that with the exception of some light skirmishing there was 
a lull in the storm of battle. A council of war was called by 
Washington, at which it was determined to retreat from Long 
Island. 

It is in times of defeat and disaster that the great gen- 
eral proves his ability. At no other time in his wonderful 
career did Washington manifest greater qualities as a com- 
mander than he did in this retreat from Brooklyn. 
In the face of a superior army, supported bv a ^^^^^"e- 

^ 7 ' i-i J ton's mas- 

powerful navy, he transported ten thousand men teriy retreat, 
across the East River in such frail boats as he 
could pick up on Manhattan Island. True, the two days' rain 
and the subsequent fog that covered Long Island, and the 
change of wind to the southwest, enabled him to form his 
plans and hide his movements ; but it is always the skillful 
general who makes the best use of his opportunities. 

It was most providential that the British ministry sent out a 
succession of most incompetent generals to put down the so- 
called American rebellion. Gage was weak and vacillating ; 
Howe was indolent and over-confident. Had the latter followed 
up his victory on Long Island with vigor and celerity, he could 
undoubtedly have captured or destroyed that portion of the 
American army cowering on the heights above the East River. 
He allowed two days, however, to pass in comparative inaction ; 
and the delay enabled Washington to conduct one of the most 
masterly retreats on record. 

Although the army reached New York in safety, it was 
evident that the Americans could not hold it. If they must 
retreat, the question arose whether it would not be better to 
burn the town. Congress advised against its destruction, be- 
cause it might be of future use. The same question was 
considered by the British general ; but he, too, thought it better 



124 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 

to spare it, and for precisely the same reason — its use in the 
future. In spite of the desire on both sides to preserve New 
York, a great fire destroyed about five hundred houses, and 
did an immense amount of damage. Whether this was an 
accident or the work of an incendiary was never clearly as- 
certained. 

Howe spread his troops on Long Island along the East 
River from Brooklyn to Astoria, and sent a considerable force 
into Westchester County. He also ordered the men-of-war to 
occupy both rivers, evidently with the intention of cooping up 
the American army on Manhattan Island, and by means of his 
vastly superior force compelling it to surrender, or to fight at a 
disadvantage. Washington took up a strong position on Wash- 
ington Heights, at the upper end of the island ; fortified Forts 
Washington and Lee ; placed batteries along the East River 
to prevent the British from landing, and called in his troops 
from the lower part of the town. While holding this position 
he fought a successful skirmish, partly for the purpose of inspir- 
ing his troops with confidence. Becoming acquainted by means 
of his spies with Howe's movements and plans. 

Battle of Washino^ton marched his army into Westchester, 

White ,ri ^ o,.i-. 1 1 r 

Plains. ^"*^ fought, on Oct. 26, the indecisive battle of 
White Plains. He soon perceived that the inten- 
tion of the British general was to capture Philadelphia. Hence 
Washington was compelled to cross the Hudson, and place 
his army between that city and the enemy. In pursuing this 
course he advised the abandonment of Fort Washington ; but 
Congress very unwisely insisted that it should be held. The 
fort shortly afterwards surrendered, and three thousand prison- 
ers fell into the hands of the English. The surrender of Fort 
Lee soon followed. 

The condition of the American army at this time was most 
deplorable — discouraged by a series of defeats, poorly fed, 
insufficiently clothed, oftentimes without shoes, their pay in 
arrears, and no money to be had. Some deserted, some went 
over to the enemy; the terms of enlistment of some had 



EVENTS OF 1776. 1 25 

expired, and they were anxious to go home. Many members 
of Congress had lost faith in Wasliington as a commander. 
General Charles Lee was insubordinate; but fortu- 
nately he was captured by the enemy. General 'vvashmg- 

„ , . 1 • 1 ton's diffi- 

Horatio Gates was seekmg a separate and mde- cuities. 
pendent command. Both these conceited gen- 
erals had underrated and belied their general in chief. This 
was the darkest, the gloomiest hour of the Revolutionary 
War. All seemed lost. The Tories were triumphant, and 
many of the Whigs made their peace with the Crown. 

The British generals were so sure that the "rebellion" was 
crushed that they became indolent and careless. Cornwallis 
was so certain that the war was ended that he obtained per- 
mission to return to England. But in this dark and terrible 
hour the great soul of Washington remained undaunted and 
undismayed. With his ragged rabble of an army, now reduced 
to three or four thousand men, he retreated across the Dela- 
ware, vigilantly observing every movement of the enemy. The 
vices and crimes of the British soldiers and officers and their 
Hessian hirelings in New Jersey were simply horrible. Every 
species of crime — murder, arson, rapine — was of dail}^, hourly, 
occurrence ; and the American general was powerless to pre- 
vent it. Patiently watching his opportunity, Washington was 
resolved to strike a blow which would revive the hopes of the 
patriots and bring recruits to his standard. 

Learning that General Rahl, who occupied Trenton with 
twelve hundred Hessians, was so confident that he declined 
to construct a single work of defense, or even to claim support 
from any other portion of the army, Washington formed the 
bold design of crossing the Delaware on Christmas night in 
two places, one above and the other below Trenton, of sur- 
rounding and capturing the Hessians before morning, and 
then retreating across the river with his prisoners. 

The troops sent below Trenton failed to cross the river, 
owing to the great quantities of broken ice on the Jersey side. 
This misfortune greatly injured the chances of success. 



126 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR, 

Nevertheless, Washington was determined to run the risk, push 
forward alone, and strike the enemy a sudden blow. He took 
with him his ablest and bravest officers, and first among them, 
the loyal and indomitable Greene, and two thousand four hun- 
dred of his best and most reliable soldiers, men 
Washington ^^^^^ }^^^ Seen service in one or more campaigns. 

crosses the ^,,, ^ . . i t^ i i r 

Delaware ^^^ lioatmg ice on the Delaware and a storm of 
snow and sleet so delayed the movement that it 
was four o'clock before the troops and guns were safe on the 
Jersey side. Washington divided his little army into two col- 
umns, one led by Greene, and the other by Sullivan, he himself 
remaining with the former. 

It was eight o'clock on Dec. 26 before the attack was made ; 
but notwithstanding the lateness of the hour, the Hessians 
were completely surprised. The officers had been celebrating 
Christmas the evening before, doubtless with deep potations, 
and consequently they were both sleepy and stupid. At all 
events, when Rahl was awakened, he was not in a fit condition 
to command his men. After a weak attempt to form in order 
of battle, the veteran Hessians fled like raw recruits ; but they 
were met by Sullivan's troops, who compelled them 
to surrender. Rahl was mortally wounded, and 

Trenton. ^ ' 

gave up his sword to Washington. Nearly a thou- 
sand prisoners, six guns, many muskets, and other trophies fell 
into the hands of the Americans, who lost but two men killed 
and four wounded in this brilliant exploit. Washington re- 
crossed the Delaware in safety. As the commander in chief 
had foreseen, this victory revived the hopes of the patriots, 
inspired the despondent with confidence, and brought recruits 
to his army, which was soon increased to six thousand men. 
With this force he crossed the Delaware, and took up his 
position at Trenton. 

Cornwallis returned from New York, resolved to wipe out the 
disgrace of Rahl's defeat. Collecting all his available troops, 
he found himself at the head of an army of seven thousand men. 
At this juncture Washington's position was most critical. He 



EVENTS OF 1776. 127 

dared not fight a superior force. To cross to the Pennsylvania 
side of the Delaware in the face of the enemy was impossible. 
To cut his way toward the north meant destruction. There 
was but one course open to him, and that was boldly to remain 
in New Jersey and assume the offensive. At a council of war 
all the generals agreed that it was best to make a night march 
and capture Princeton. Accordingly, on the morning of the 3d 
of January, after a short but sanguinary struggle, the town was 
taken ; and Cornwallis found the position of the 
hostile armies reversed, and himself completely out- „^.^ 

•^ •' Princeton. 

generaled.^ These skillful maneuvers once more 
saved the cause of liberty and independence from destruction. 
Washington retired in safety to Morristown Heights, and went 
into winter quarters. 

1 It is said that Washington was once asked what he would have done had he 
been beaten at Trenton and Princeton. He replied, " I would have retreated across 
the Alleghanies even with but fifty followers, and preserved the independence of my 
country while I had life." 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR - Continued. 

" Strike for your altars and your fires ; 
Strike for the green graves of your sires, 
God and your native land ! "' 

Events of 1777. 

During the winter and spring of 1777, from his strong posi- 
tion at Morristown, Washington closely watched the enemy's 
movements, and frustrated every attempt on the part of Howe 
to bring on a general engagement. There were frequent skir- 
mishes between foraging parties, in which the British were gen- 
erally routed ; but there was nothing that had a general bearing 
on the war. Governor Tryon made a raid into Connecticut, 
and destroyed some stores and burnt some houses. This was 
offset by an attack on Sag Harbor by Colonel Meigs, in which 
he captured the Tory guards, burnt twelve brigs and sloops, 
and destroyed large quantities of hay and grain. 

As the British could only recruit their armies by transporting 
men three thousand miles across the Atlantic, subject as they 
were to disease and death during the long and tedious voyage, 
Washington perceived the great advantage of attacking the 
enemy in detail, as at Trenton and Princeton, cutting off con- 
voys, and harassing them in every possible way, without com- 
ing to a pitched battle. He was convinced that 
Washington ^Q\g^y ^y^g profound policy ; and so he lingered on 
Morristown. ^^^^ hillsidcs of Morristown, where Howe dared not 
attack him. For the patience and wisdom which 
he evinced in his military movements, Washington earned the 
title of the American Fabius. Just as the Roman had baf- 
fled the Carthaginian two thousand years ago, the American 
baffled the Englishman. 

128 



EVENTS OF 1777. 1 29 

The cruel treatment that American prisoners received at the 
hands of British officers covered Howe's name with indelible 
disgrace. They were huddled together between the decks of 
filthy ships ; they were beaten on the slightest provocation ; 
they were abused in the most shameful manner ; they wer(j 
starved, often left for several days without food ; and some 
were hanged without even the form of a trial. Death from dis- 
ease, under such circumstances, was, of course, of hourly 
occurrence ; and yet the dying were refused the consolations 
of religion. Howe, with a cunning which he had 
never evinced in battle, requested Washington to ^''"^^^^ °^ 

' ^ *=* Sir William 

exchange the healthy, well-fed British prisoners for Howe, 
the sickly and dying Americans. But the latter 
respectfully declined until the exchange could be a fair one 
as regarded fitness for military duty. At the same time he 
reproached the British for their wanton cruelty. Thus Howe's 
wickedness reacted on himself. 

Howe found it too dangerous to attack Philadelphia by land, 
and hence he resolved to take it by sea. Abandoning New 
Brunswick, which had been his headquarters during the win- 
ter, and collecting all his forces on Staten Island, he shipped 
an army of eighteen thousand men on board his brother's 
war vessels and transports at Sandy Hook, and landed them, 
August 4, at the head of the Elk River in Maryland. Wash- 
ington had only a poorly equipped force of eleven thousand 
troops with which to contest Howe's march on Philadelphia. 
The British general took up a strong position on the left bank 
of the Brandywine, and seized the fords of the river, the chief 
of which was Chads Ford, where a severe battle was fought 
September 11, in which the Americans were de- ^^^^^^q^ 
feated, with a loss of nearly one thousand men in chads Ford 
killed, wounded, and prisoners. On the 19th, Gen- orBrandy- 
eral Wayne intended to surprise a part of the British ^'"^' 
army at Paoli ; but some Tories having given Howe timely 
warning, the Americans were themselves surprised, and suffered 
a severe loss. This action is known as the " Paoli Massacre." 



HUNT. U. S. HIST. 



130 



THE REP^OLUTIONARY WAR. 



On the 26th of September Howe marched into Philadelphia, 
and was received with great joy by the Tory inhabitants Con- 
gress had fled to Lancaster for safety. Howe 
owes placed his army in winter quarters at Germantown. 

capture of _ '' ^ 

•Philadelphia. Washington, learning that a portion of the British 
force was attacking the forts on the Delaware, and 
still undisma3^ed by recent reverses, was determined to haz- 
ard another battle, in order, if possible, to compel the enemy 
to evacuate the chief city of the United States. He formed, 
October 4, an excellent plan of attack ; and everything at first 
promised a splendid victory. The English fled; but some of 
them took refuge in a storehouse, which they converted into 
a fort, and fired on the Americans. Unfortunately the latter 
wasted valuable time in attempting to dislodge 
them. In the meantime a fos: arose, which caused 



Battle of 
Germantown. 



the patriots to fall into confusion. \\'ashington 
deemed it wise to order a retreat, having suftered a loss of 
about twelve hundred men. After this action Washington re- 
tired with his army, which was worn and wearied with long 

and arduous service, to winter 
quarters at Valley Forge, about 
twenty miles from Philadelphia. 

Fortunately for the cause of 
American Independence, the gen- 
eral selected by the British Min- 
istry for the invasion of New York 
was even more incompetent than 
either Clinton or Howe. Bur- 
goyne had served in a subor- 
dinate capacity at Bunker Hill, 
and had manifested no higher 
quality than common courage. 
Yet this was the man chosen to 
lead the army from Canada — to deal the "rebellion" its death 
blow. He had boasted, it is said, that with seven thousand 
men he would be able to cut his wav to Georgia. He had col- 




Burgoyne. 



EVENTS OF 1777. 13I 

lected at St. Johns, at the mouth of the St. Johns River, a 
force of nearly eight thousand troops, composed half of regu- 
lars and half of Hessians and Canadians. He had, in addi- 
tion, by King George's consent, a body of merci- 
less Indians under his command. He had a for- "^g^°y"^ ^ 

armament. 

midable train of artillery. His subordinate officers 
were especially able. He had a fleet, consisting of nine ves- 
sels, carrying one hundred and forty-three guns. His first 
objective point was Albany, whence he could form a junction 
with Howe, thus separating the New England from the Mid- 
dle States, and, with the aid of the Tories, conquer all the 
country south of New York. The plan of campaign was 
excellent but for one little defect. Burgoyne had received 
orders to join Howe; but Howe, through oversight on the 
part of the British minister, had received no positive orders 
to join Burgoyne. This omission was fatal to the enterprise. 
Washington not only held Howe in check at and near Phil- 
adelphia, but actually sent reenforcements to the threatened 
north from his own depleted army ; thus materially assisting 
Gates to gain the glory he so little deserved. 

On the 1 6th of June, Burgoyne started on his memorable 
expedition, and immediately established a magazine of supplies 
at Crown Point. His first point of attack was Ticonderoga, 
called the Key of the North. It was garrisoned by 
three thousand men, under the command of General ^"'■^°y"^^ 

invasion. 

St. Clair, and with proper generalship ought to have 
been impregnable. But St. Clair permitted the English engi- 
neers to plant two strong batteries, one on Mount Hope and 
the other on Sugar Loaf Mountain, the latter supposed to be 
inaccessible. Gates had been warned a few weeks previously 
of the danger of leaving these positions undefended, but, with 
his characteristic self-conceit, he had scorned to take the 
advice. Sugar Loaf Mountain completely commanded Ticon- 
deroga ; and the only course open to St. Clair was to order a 
retreat. But a retreat was not easily effected, owing to the 
accidental firing of one of the officers' houses, which gave the 



132 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 

enemy warning. St. Clair was closely pursued by General 

Fraser, Burgoyne's ablest and most active officer. There was 

considerable fighting, the advantage being generally 

ap ure o ^^^ ^j^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ British. The American loss in 

Ticonderoga. 

men and material, which could ill be spared, was 
very severe. Finally, after retreating by a circuitous route of a 
hundred miles, St. Clair reached Fort Edward with a small por- 
tion of the garrison. The loss of Ticonderoga filled the patri- 
ots with dismay, the English and Tories with delight. The 
entire North now seemed open and defenseless, with no Ameri- 
can force strong enough to prevent the junction of Howe and 
Burgoyne. 

Part of Burgoyne's plan of campaign was to send a force up 
the St. Lawrence to Oswego, for the purpose of capturing Fort 
Schuyler, and thereby of obtaining control of the Mohawk val- 
ley. If the British succeeded in taking this important position, 
they could make a flank movement on Albany, and arouse the 
friendly Tories on the march. Colonel St. Leger was selected 
for the command of this cooperating expedition. Accordingly, 
on the 3d of August, he appeared before Fort Schuyler with 
seven hundred regular troops and one thousand Indians, under 
the command of their chief, Colonel Brant, and summoned the 
garrison to surrender. This Colonel Gansevoort of New York 
promptly declined to do. 

The patriots of the valley turned out in great numbers, under 
an old veteran. General Herkimer, to assist their friends in the 
fort. St. Leger turned aside from the siege to attack this new 
force on Aug. 6. He found the Americans marching care- 
lessly through the woods at Oriskany, and suddenly 

Battle of Qpej^ino^ a destructive fire on them, cut off the 

Oriskany. ^ =* ' 

rear guard from the main body, and mortally 
wounded Herkimer. But the brave old general sat leaning 
against a tree, and coolly gave his orders while smoking his 
pipe. The Americans, notwithstanding the surprise, fought 
bravely. Colonel Gansevoort, hearing the fire, ordered a sortie, 
which put the enemy to flight. The British lost their artillery, 



EVENTS OF 1777. 1 33 

ammunition, and tents ; and the Indians, hearing that General 
Arnold was approaching with a large force, deserted, panic- 
stricken, in great numbers. 

At Fort Edward, Schuyler had but five thousand men with 
which to oppose Burgoyne's greatly superior force. He was 
compelled, therefore, to fall back slowly, first to Moses Creek, 
and afterwards to Saratoga, destroying bridges, 
fellino: trees, and obstructino^ roads on the march. ^ "y er s 

*= ' , *. tactics. 

Such were the obstacles in his path, that Burgoyne 
did not reach Fort Edward until the 30th of July. Here he 
found difficulty in obtaining provisions for his troops and for- 
age for his horses ; for he was now a considerable distance 
from his base of supplies, with active enemies in his rear. 

Hearing that there were stores collected at Bennington, he 
chose one of his best officers, a German named Baum, and 
sent him out with five hundred soldiers and one hundred 
Indians to seize them. Colonel Baum, soon learning that the 
Americans were strongly intrenched at Bennington, sent back 
for reenforcements. But before these could arrive, 
on Aug:. 16, he was attacked with great visfor by „ ^ ®° 

» ' . fo fe ,' Bennington. 

General Stark, at the head of some New Hamp- 
shire militia and '' Green Mountain Boys," and completely 
defeated. Baum was mortally wounded. The Americans then 
scattered carelessly over the field of battle. The English re- 
enforcement, under Colonel Breymann, coming up at this 
moment, suddenly made an attack ; but they, too, were driven 
from the field by a splendid charge led by Colonel Seth 
Warner. The Americans captured four cannon and seven 
hundred prisoners. In the victory at Bennington, General 
Stark manifested great skill and courage ; and tradition says 
that, in going into battle and seeing the redcoats, he exclaimed, 
" There they are, boys. We beat them to-day, or Molly Stark's 
a widow." Like Trenton and Princeton, Oriskany and Ben- 
nington turned the tide of disaster, inspired hope in the hearts 
of the patriots, and sent recruits in thousands to the American 
army at Saratoga. 



^34 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR, 



superseded 
by Gates. 



Owing to the loss of Ticonderoga and the schemes of certain 
politicians in Congress and in the army. Schuyler, notwithstand- 
ing his previous good generalship, was superseded 
Schuyler ^ ill the command of the Army of the North by Gen- 
eral Horatio Gates. Gates was chiefly noted for 
his pomposity, his political craft, and his want of 
loyalty to Washington. In assuming the chief command, he 
found everything prepared for him. Burgoyne was far from 
his base of supplies. All the avenues 
by which he might obtain provisions 
and supplies were in the hands of the 
Americans. Herkimer's and Stark's 
victories had increased Gates's army 
until it greatly outnumbered that of 
the enemy. Washington with all speed 
had forwarded troops, including Dan- 




iel Morgan's famous Virginia rangers. 



Gates. 



So that General Gates had little to do 
but to reap the crop of glory planted 
by other hands. Acting under the 
advice of Arnold and Kosciusko, a 
Polish engineer of great ability. Gates, on the 12th of Sep- 
tember, took up a strong position on Bemis Heights, in the 
town of Stillwater, which was strengthened by a line of breast- 
works and redoubts. His right was protected by the Hudson, 
his left by ridges and woods, and his center by a ravine. 
Before Burgoyne could continue his march to Albany, it was 
necessary to rout the enemy in front of him. 

The battle commenced on the 19th of September. Burgoyne 

moved his center, where he himself commanded, against the 

American left, while General Fraser moved still 

^^"^^ farther to the west, for the purpose of making a 

of Bemis ^, »,,,,>t 

Heights, flank movement. Arnold, supported by Morgan, 
was in command of the American left wing. Fight- 
ing was continued all day in ravines and thick woods, with 
varying fortune. The British, knowing their critical situation, 



EVENTS OE 1777. 1 35 

fought with desperation, the patriots with undaunted courage. 
At night the Americans withdrew within tlieir lines; tiie British 
were left in possession of the field. All the advantages of a 
victory, however, remained with the Americans, who lost half 
as many men as the British. Burgoyne was slow to make 
another attack. His provisions became scarce. Stark threat- 
ened Fort Edward. Colonel Brown attacked Fort Ticonderoga, 
and took some prisoners and guns. In point of fact, the British 
general was surrounded and entrapped. Every day he expected 
assistance from New York, but none ever came. 

Sir Henry Clinton had made a diversion up the Hudson, 
threatening Albany. But he went no farther than Kingston, 
which he burnt. He captured Forts Clinton and Montgomery, 
but afforded no aid to the doomed army of Burgoyne. 

Finally, on the 7th of October, Burgoyne determined to make 
another attack, as before, on the American left. This time the 
fightino- was more severe while it lasted. In one hour it was 
all over ; and the Americans had won a complete victory. 
The British were driven within their lines in utter disorder. 
Arnold, in spite of the fact that Gates had removed 
him from the command, was everywhere in the ^^^^^^^ °^ 

' ^ Arnold 

thickest of the battle, cheering on his men, and ^^d Morgan. 
fi2:htino; like a common soldier, with that reckless 
courage for which he was remarkable. He and Morgan actually 
broke through the enemies' line of works; and in this last 
charge Arnold was wounded. Well for him had he been killed 
at this glorious moment ! For his splendid achievements in 
this important battle. Congress made him a major general. 

Owing to the losses sustained in four battles, and having 
received no reenforcements, Burgoyne's army was not now 
more than half that of Gates, and was in a very critical posi- 
tion. On the night of the 8th of October he quietly fell back 
to Saratoga, and took up a position on the north side of the 
Fishkill. Gates promptly pursued, and so arranged his army 
as virtually to surround the British. In this desperate situa- 
tion, with only five days' provisions, Burgoyne called a council 



136 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 

of war. The officers voted unanimously to surrender. Ac- 
cordingly, on the 17th of October, the British marched out of 
their camps and laid down their arms. Burgoyne 
urgoyne s s^^j-endered his sword to Gates. By the agreement 

surrender. J <=> 

the British soldiers were allowed to march out with 
all the honors of war, and have free passage to England, on 
condition that they should not serve again during the war. 

The two battles of Bemis Heights, or Saratoga as they are 
sometimes called, are among the decisive battles of the world, 
because they proved the ability of the Americans to win their 
independence, and led to those treaties of alliance with France 
and other powers which morally and materially assisted the 
United States in the grand struggle against despotic power. 
Twice before these battles the cause had been almost lost ; 
once after the disastrous battle of Long Island, and again after 
the capture of Philadelphia and Ticonderoga. But from this 
time forth the Americans never lost heart or hope. 

While Howe's army had abundance at Philadelphia, Wash- 
ington's army was suffering untold misery at Valley Forge. 
His troops were half naked, and more than half starved. 

Many were without shoes. They lived in huts of 

Miseries their own construction, composed of logs plastered 

For e ^^"^^ mud. Eacli hut was fourteen by sixteen feet, 

and accommodated twelve men. For want of straw 
they were compelled to sleep on the damp earth. Their only 
comfort was heat, for they could obtain all the wood they 
wanted. Congress had changed its quarters from Lancaster 
to York. It seemed either unable or unwilling to obtain money 
to pay the soldiers. This utter wretchedness caused many to 
desert. The death rate among them during this terrible winter 
was thirty-three per cent. An idea may be formed of the des- 
titution of the army from the fact that four thousand men 
were unfit to turn out for military duty simply for want of 
clothing. The responsibility which weighed on Washington's 
mind at this time would have driven a man less great to 
despair. 



liAKE CHAMPLAIN ;-/ 

and j\ 

HUDSOX P.IVER. / )( 
'R^ RusstllHinman C 





f,M .,' \ 



crrr 






.vud 




i cT ttenville .//,,_ , -\. 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR — Continued. 

" Though those that are betrayed 
Do feel the treason sharply, yet the traitor 
Stands in worse case of woe." 

Events of 1778. 

As if Washington's cup of misery were not already full to 
overflowing, an infamous conspiracy was formed during the 
winter of 1777 and 1778 for his removal from the position 
of commander in chief. This conspiracy is known in history 
as the " Conway Cabal." Its purpose was to make 
the pompous and conceited Gates head of the ^^ c b 1 
army, and to give the important positions to its 
members. It received its name from Conway, an Irishman 
by birth, a Frenchman by adoption. 

Its chief members were Gates, now president of the Board 
of War; Mifflin, quartermaster general; and Lee, w^ho had un- 
fortunately been exchanged, to damage the cause he pretended 
to serve. Joined with them were certain members of Congress 
who wished to effect a change. Puffed up with his success at 
Saratoga — a success achieved by Schuyler, Herkimer, Stark, 
Arnold, and Morgan — Gates had sent his report of the battles 
direct to Congress, thus ignoring and insulting Washington, 
his chief commander. The conspirators accused Washington 
of want of dash and enterprise and of lack of all those quali- 
ties which constitute a great and successful general. They 
wrote anonymous letters to Patrick Henry, governor of Vir- 
ginia, and to Henry Laurens, president of Congress ; but these 
patriots immediately forwarded them to the commander in 
chief. They also tried to tamper with the State legislatures, 

^2>7 



138 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 



but in vain. Just as soon as the conspiracy was discovered 

and exposed, it fell to pieces like a house of cards ; for the 
great heart of America was true to her illustrious 
chief. In one way or another every man of the 
cabal came to grief, as he deserved. Conway was 

shot in a duel with Cadwallader, and, thinking he was dying, 

wrote a penitent letter 



Defeat of 
the cabal. 



to Washington 




Gates and Mifflin 
ceased to be members of the 
Military Board ; and the for- 
mer was sent to take charge 
of the fortifications on the 
Hudson. Mifflin was tried by 
court-martial for mismanage- 
ment of the quartermaster's 
department, and Lee soon 
afterwards met a similar fate. 
Had this vile cabal succeeded 
in ousting Washington, the in- 
dependence of America would 
have been lost, or indefinitely 
postponed. 

In strong contrast with Con- 
way, Gates, and Lee, were Lafayette, whom the cabal had tried 
to seduce by the promise of high command ; Baron De Kalb, 
ever true and loyal ; Kosciusko, whose engineer- 
oreign .^^ <^\\[ helped the Americans to gain the two bat- 
tles of Saratoga; and Baron Von Steuben, an officer 
who had studied the art of war under Frederick the Great of 
Prussia. It will be remembered that when Congress adopted 
the Declaration of Independence, it appointed a committee on 
foreign alliances. Benjamin Franklin and Silas Deane had 
been very active in securing aid from France, and in sending 
over officers who had received a military education. The most 
useful of all these was Steuben, who introduced the Prussian 
tactics into the American army, so that in subsequent battles 
the soldiers were able to move like machines. 



Steuben. 



EVENTS OF 1778. I 39 

The skill and vigor displayed by Washington in the retreat 
from Long Island, in the victories at Trenton and Princeton, 
and in holding Howe at bay with his superior force at Phila- 
delphia, and, above all, the surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga, 
had convinced the European powers, as well as a large minority 
of the British people, that the independence of the United 
States was now assured. 

These victories enabled the American commissioners, and 
especially Benjamin Franklin, who was a great favorite at the 
French court, to press the claims of the United States for 
recognition as a sovereign and independent State. 
Their efforts were crowned with success. On the ^"ia"<^e 
6th of February, 1778, a treaty of alliance, offen- France 
sive and defensive, was concluded between France 
and America, both binding themselves not to make peace with 
Great Britain until she acknowledged the independence of the 
United States. On the 2d of May, the treaty was ratified by 
Congress. Next to the Declaration of Independence this was 
the most important political event of the Revolution ; for it 
secured for the Americans the moral and material aid of one 
of the foremost powers of Europe, and led to alliances with 
other European nations, which made it impossible for Great 
Britain to subjugate the United States. 

The British prime minister. Lord North, very much alarmed 
at the French treaty with the United States, perceived that 
unless he could come to terms with the American patriots, war 
with France was inevitable. He introduced two 
conciliatory bills, which were passed in both houses ^^^^^ Bntam 

•' *■ sues for 

of Parliament by a bare majority. He conceded all peace, 
for which the colonists had taken up arms in 1775. 
He conceded the right to tax themselves. In fact, he conceded 
everything except absolute independence. But his concessions 
came too late. He sent out commissioners to Congress with 
proposals for peace. The latter body informed them that noth- 
ing could be done until Great Britain withdrew her armies 
and fleets, and acknowledged the independence of America. 




140 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 

It SO happened that George III. and his ministers always 

yielded at the wrong time. 

In the spring of 1778 there were no military movements of 

any importance beyond a few raids here and there in search 
of provisions, followed by the usual 
skirmishing on both sides. The British 
government, learning that Count D'Es- 
taing was on his way to America with a 
large French fleet, and fearing that he 
might blockade the Delaware River, and 
thus imperil the English army in Phila- 
delphia, sent out orders to Sir Henry 
Clinton, Howe's successor, to evacuate 
the city, and concentrate his forces in 

Clinton. ■' re - 

New York. With an effective army of 

fourteen thousand men, and all the plunder he had been able 

to secure, Clinton commenced his retreat on the 18th of June 

under a broiling sun. So fierce was the heat that 

Clinton evac- ^ ^. ^^ ?,^\^^xv hundred Hessians deserted in 

uates Phila- •' 

deiphia safety. Washington, ever on the alert, being cor- 
rectly informed of this movement, determined to 
pursue the enemy, and to strike him a blow while on the 
march through New Jersey. In numbers he was now superior 
to Clinton, and the drilling the army had received from Steu- 
ben made its discipline as effective as that of the British. 

Washington crossed the Delaware, and sent out a detach- 
ment to cooperate with the New Jersey militia in annoying and 
retarding Clinton's retreat. He called a council of war, in 
which he recommended bringing on a general engagement ; 
but the majority was opposed to it. Still resolved not to allow 
the enemy to escape without a blow, he selected a corps of five 
thousand troops, and placed them under the command of Gen- 
eral Lee, with orders to attack the enemy's rear. Dickinson's 
militia was to threaten his left, and Morgan's rangers his right. 
Clinton had reached Monmouth Court House. The two armies 
on the night of the 27th of June were about five miles apart. 



EVENTS OF 1778. I4I 

At five o'clock on the morning of the 28th, Knyphausen 
marched out with the baggage train, while Clinton followed 
later with the main body of the army. Washing- 
ton sent orders to Lee to bring on a general en- bedien 
gagement as soon as the British showed signs of 
retreating ; but Lee, headstrong and disloyal as ever, had 
declined to consult with his subordinate generals, and hence 
there was a great deal of confusion. An attack by Lafayette 
was repulsed, and Lee gave the order to retreat across a mo- 
rass in his rear ; but through some misunderstanding the troops 
continued their retreat. 

The danger was imminent. Had not Washington himself 
come up and rallied the Americans, and restored them to order, 
the battle would have been lost. At the same time he repri- 
manded Lee in no gentle language, and commanded him, in 
severe terms, to take a strong position, and oppose the enemy. 
This position he held until the main body of the 
army arrived, when the battle became 2:eneral. It ,, ^" ^ o 

•^ , , , ^ Monmouth. 

lasted until night, with the advantage decidedly in 
favor of the Americans. The loss was about equal. But dur- 
ing the night the British silently stole awa}', not wishing for 
another such encounter. Once more the elements favored the 
cause of liberty. The day was so oppressively hot that a num- 
ber of the enemy, unaccustomed to the climate, were sunstruck. 

Lee wrote Washington two insolent letters, for which, and 
for his disobedience and misbehavior before the enemy, he was 
court-martialed, and suspended from the army for one year. 
Happily this ended his military career in America. 

Clinton continued his march to Sandy Hook, whence he was 
transported by the fleet to New York. Washington took up a 
position at White Plains, where he could watch and 
circumvent the operations of the British g-enerals. ^,"1^^^. ° 

^ ^ D'Estaing. 

About the middle of July, Count D'Estaing ar- 
rived at Rhode Island with a fleet of twelve ships, containing 
four thousand French soldiers. This armament was originally 
intended for the blockade of the Delaware, to relieve Phila- 



142 THE REVOLUTIOXARY WAR. 

delphia, and to cooperate with Washington's army. But it 
arrived too late to accomplish anything in this direction. 
Clinton had escaped to New York in safety, notwithstanding 
the severe check he had received at Monmouth. 

For some unaccountable reason D'Estaing imagined that his 
vessels could not pass the bar at the entrance of New York 
Harbor ; so he sailed to Newport to assist General Sullivan in 
driving the British out of Rhode Island. General Pigot, the 
British commander, hearing of the arrival of the French, set 
fire to all the ships in the harbor. Sullivan had ten thousand 
militia and Continentals, with Greene and Lafayette command- 
ing divisions of the army. It was agreed that the combined 
Americans and French should attack the enemy on the loth of 
August; but Sullivan, in his haste to seize the northern end 
of the island, moved his troops too soon, without notifying 
D'Estaing. In the meantime a fleet of thirty-six vessels, under 
Lord Howe, arrived from New York. The French 

D'Estaing's commaudcr put out to sea for the purpose of bring- 
fleet scat- . , . iiTi M 
tared ^^S ^^ ^ general engagement. While maneuvermg 

for position, a great storm arose which scattered 
both fleets. The English returned to New York and the 
French to Newport. Then the latter sailed to Boston for 
repairs and refitting, taking with them the four thousand sol- 
diers, instead of leaving them to cooperate with Sullivan. 

Notwithstanding the conduct of the French, General Sulli- 
van drove the enemy within their intrenchments ; and on the 
29th of July he determined to hazard a battle. The British, 
observing his movements, advanced from their works, and 
attacked the Americans with great energy ; but they were vigor- 
ously repulsed. Both sides fought desperately ; 
T,u^r"l^i°^. and though the enemy had captured some of the 

Rhode Island. ° j r ^ 

American positions, all the advantages of victory 
remained with the patriots,, who lost only a little over two 
hundred men, while the loss of the British was over a thousand. 
Sullivan had received timely warning that Clinton had sent 
a reenforcement of five thousand troops from New York. He 



EVENTS OF 171 S. 1 43 

therefore withdrew his army in safety to the mainland. From 
Boston, D'Estaing sailed to the West Indies ; and thus ended 
an expedition from which so much had been expected. 

The meanest and most vindictive Tories in America were 
those inhabiting Central New York, In this section the con- 
test between Whig and Tory was exceedingly bitter, and often- 
times even families were divided. In the early summer Colonel 
John Butler and John Brant, an influential Indian chief, col- 
lected a large force of savage Indians and Tories, and began 
a merciless massacre of old men, women, and children, while 
their protectors were away. A force of three hundred patriots 
rashly attacked a superior force of Indians and Tories, and only 
sixty escaped with their lives. As the news of the terrible 
burnings, massacres, and scalpings were spread 
through the valley, many of the people sought ref- ^^^^0^^^° 
uge in Fort Wyoming, then commanded by Colonel 
Dennison. This officer surrendered the fort on condition that 
the people should be permitted to return to their homes unmo- 
sted. The promises, of course, were broken, and a general 
massacre followed on July 3, 1778. 

Later in the year Walter N. Butler, the cruel son of a cruel 
father, having escaped from Albany, where he 
had been a prisoner, resolved to take revenge by ^^^^ 

burning some peaceable village. He selected 
Cherry Valley as the victim of his malice. Colonel Alden, 
who was in command of the fort at this place, was surprised, 
Nov. 10, outside the works, pursued, and slain. Then began 
the slaughter of the innocent women and children. The fort, 
however, was not captured. 

Toward the close of the year 1778 General Clinton, hav- 
ing signally failed to reduce the Middle, as Howe had previ- 
ously failed to reduce the New England States, resolved to 
commence operations against the South, which he knew was 
full of friendly Tories. Accordingly, he sent Colonel Camp- 
bell with a force of two thousand men to take Savannah, the 
chief town of Georgia. General Howe, the American com- 



144 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 



Capture of 
Savannah. 






^m: 



mander, had only six hundred Continentals and a small body 
of militia with which to oppose the enemy. His position, how- 
ever, was a very strong one. He had a lagoon on 
his front, a morass on his right, the swamps of the 
river on his left, and the fortifications of the town 
in his rear. But he left a pass through the swamp unguarded, 
which Colonel Campbell discovered ; and, guided by a negro, 

he crossed over and turned 
Howe's right, while he at- 
tacked the Americans in front, 
and completely routed them. 
Savannah was captured, and, 
soon afterwards, Sunbury and 
Augusta. 

One of the most brilliant ex- 
ploits of the war was the cap- 
; ture of Stony Point by General 
. Wayne. This fortress was sit- 
uated upon a rocky and almost 
inaccessible hill on the Hud- 
son, about forty miles from 
New York. It contained a 
garrison of six hundred men well supplied with stores and 
ammunition. Washington planned and organized the expedi- 
tion. On the 15th of July, Wayne marched f enr- 
apture o ^QQ^^ miles over difficult roads and mountain passes. 

Stony Point. , . . . 

and at eight o'clock in the evening arrived within a 
mile of the fort. Here he formed his troops into two columns, 
and ordered them to move forward with fixed bayonets. At 
midnight they reached the outer works. But the neck of land 
leading to the Point was covered with water, and the delay in 
crossing gave the enemy time to discover the movement. The 
British opened fire on the advancing columns ; but nothing 
could withstand the courage and enthusiasm of the Americans. 
They carried the fortress by storm, and captured five hundred 
prisoners, and large quantities of stores and ammunition. 




Wayne. 



CHAPTER XXL 

THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR — Continued. 

" When Freedom from her mountain height 
Unfurled lier standard to the air, 
She tore the azure robe of night, 
And set the stars of glory there." 

General Observations. 

The first Continental flag was adopted by Congress while 
Washington was conducting the siege of Boston. On the 2d of 
January, 1776, it was raised in the presence of the whole army. 
It consisted of thirteen stripes, to represent the thirteen States, 
and the union of the British standard, the crosses of St. George 
and St. Andrew. Prior to this there had been several State 
flags, but no national flag. That of Massachusetts was white, 
with a pine tree in the center. The first naval flag was yellow, 
with a rattlesnake in the act of striking, and the 
sio:nificant words: ^' Don't tread on mc'^ On the . _ 

5=> ican flag. 

14th of July, 1777, Congress by resolution adopted 
a new flag, which consisted of thirteen stripes, alternately red 
and white, and thirteen white stars on a blue field, emblematic 
of a new constellation. With the addition of a star for each 
new State, this flag has remained ever since the flag of the 
United States of America. 

In the beginning of the struggle for independence the pa- 
triots wisely made no regular attempt to contend with Great 
Britain on the ocean. The rivers, the mountains, the swamps, 
and the forests gave the Americans a great advantage in 
the contest by land. Every rod of ground from Boston to 
Savannah was thoroughly familiar to Washington and his gen- 
erals, while it was comparatively an unknown territory to the 
British commanders. This knowledge of the country counts 

HUNT. U. S. HIST. — 10 145 



146 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR, 



American 
privateers. 



Paul Jones. 



for a great deal in the conduct of campaigns ; and the Ameri- 
cans never failed to profit by it. 

Congress spent four years in building five frigates, two of 
which were burnt to prevent their falling into the hands of 
the enemy. England, as " mistress of the seas," had virtually 
destroyed American commerce. But American capital found 
employment and sought remuneration in preying 
on British merchant ships. The trade of the West 
Indies was actually crippled by United States pri- 
vateers. An idea may be formed of the great damage inflicted 
on the enemy by the fact that vessels and cargoes to the value 
of $10,000,000, an immense sum in that day, had been cap- 
tured or destroyed. 

The most daring of all these privateers was Paul Jones, 
whom the English called " pirate " for doing acts 
precisely similar to their own in Virginia and Con- 
necticut, Through the influence of Benjamin Franklin, the 

American envoy at the court 
of France, Jones obtained 
an old Indiaman, which he 
fitted out as a man-of-war, 
and named the Boii Ho7)i7?ie 
Richai'd, in honor of Frank- 
lin's book. Poor Richard^ s 
Almanac. In this vessel he 
fearlessly roamed the British 
seas, inflicting great losses on 
the enemy's commerce. He 
ravaged a portion of Scot- 
land, and made an effort to 
burn Whitehaven. 

On the 22d of September 
he sighted the Serapis, a fifty- 
gun frigate commanded by 
Captain Pearson, and the Countess of Scarborough^ of twenty- 
two guns, convoying a fleet of merchantmen. The Richard 




Paul Jones. 



EVENTS OF 1779. 1 47 

had two consorts, the Alliance and Pallas ; the latter captured 
the Countess of Scarborough, and the former took a position 
between the Richard and the Serapis ; but it is said that she 
inflicted more injury on her consort than on her enemy. With- 
out regard to the greatly superior force of the Serapis, Jones 
boldly commenced the pursuit. He overtook her an hour after 
sunset off Flamborough Head. Here, under the light of a 
full moon, commenced one of the most extraordi- 
nary sea fights on record. Tones caused the two "^^ "^^^ 

-^ o ■' victory. 

ships to be grappled together. Guns were fired, 
hand grenades were flung from the yardarms, and hand to 
hand contests amid the smoke and din of artillery, with pike 
and cutlass, were of frequent occurrence. The Richard was so 
riddled that she was already sinking, and the Serapis was on 
fire in several places. Pearson called upon Jones to surrender. 
The hero's reply was, " I have not begun to fight." For two 
hours the desperate contest was continued, until at last the 
proud standard of England went down before the starry flag. 
Congress gave Jones a vote of thanks, and the King of France 
presented him with a sword. 

In the spring and summer Clinton sent out plundering expe- 
ditions for the sole purpose of annoying the patriots. He sent 
one to Virginia under General Matthews, which 
destroyed large quantities of merchandise at Nor- e^^gdUion^ 
folk and Portsmouth; and another under General 
Tryon into Connecticut, which committed crimes of the worst 
kind. The people, however, fled to arms to protect their homes 
and families from the British and Hessian invaders. But the 
latter were not driven to their ships until they had done an 
immense amount of damage. 

Events of 1779. 

Nowhere, except in Middle New York, were the Tories more 

active or more malicious than in the three States of North 

and South Carolina and Georgia. The inhabitants were nearly 

equally divided in political opinion, almost one half of them 



148 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 

adhering to the royal cause. With the British occupation of 
Georgia, civil war of the most bitter and vindictive kind burst 
out, neighbor against neighbor, district against district, and 
county against county. Personal hatred was added to the or- 
dinary horrore of battle and bloodshed. 

Colonel Boyd raised a band of Tories in the western part 
of North Carolina, and, while on his march to join Colonel 
Campbell, he was suddenly attacked by a band of patriots 
under Colonel Pickens, and completely routed. Pickens took 
seventy prisoners, whom he tried for treason against the United 
States, and condemned them all to death ; but only live of them 
were executed. 

Soon afterwards, on March 3, General Ashe, with fifteen 
hundred North Carolina militia, was surprised at Briar Creek, 
and badly beaten. The bloody skirmishes, the 
hand to hand encounters, the ambushed assaults, 
the sudden surprises by night and the impetuous charges by 
day, the rapid retreat before superior forces, while exhibiting 
the reckless bravery of the people, had little direct influence 
on the general contest between Great Britain and the United 
States. 

Lincoln, who had superseded Howe as the American com- 
mander in the South, spent the spring marching and counter- 
marching, in an endeavor to outmaneuver General Prevost. The 
latter made an attempt on Charleston ; but, although some of 
the civil authorities were willing to surrender the town, in order 
to save their property, the brave General Moultrie and the 
patriotic Governor Rutledge would not permit them. Lincoln 
attacked the enemy at Stono Ferry ; but the Americans were 
defeated with considerable loss. The British soon 
Expedition afterwards fell back on Savannah. 

against Remembcrinor the fearful atrocities committed at 

Tones and ^ 

Indians. Wyoming and Cherry Valley by the savage Indians 

and their more savage allies, the Tories and British, 

an expedition was sent out under General Sullivan to destroy 

their power, and to inflict a well-merited punishment for their 



EVENTS OF 1779. 



149 



crimes and cruelties. The command had been first offered to 
Gates ; but that vain-glorious general thought it beneath his 
dignity, and in an insolent letter to Washington declined to 
accept it. 

Notwithstanding the disastrous failure of the first invasion 
of Canada, there was a strong party in Congress that urged a 
second, against the repeated protests of the commander in 
chief. Partly to satisfy this party, Sullivan was directed to 
capture Fort Niagara ; but the real purpose of the expedition 
was the destruction of the Indian and Tory power in Central 
New York and Western Pennsylvania. 

Most thoroughly did the American general accomplish the 
work assigned him. He found the Indians, Tories, and Brit- 
ish regulars, amounting to twelve hundred men, intrenched at 
an Indian village named Newton, now known as Elmira, on 
the Chemung River. The position was exceedingly 
strong ; but Sullivan, with his superior force, at- ". '^^" ^ 
tacked them front and rear at the same moment, 
and utterly routed them. So complete was the victory, that 
the savages were never again able to present an organized 
opposition to the desolating march of the American army. 
Sullivan destroyed everything in his path. Wigw^ams, log 
houses, and food of all kinds for winter use, were burnt or 
laid w^aste. Forty villages were reduced to ashes. Even the 
very fruit trees were cut down. The power of the Six Nations 
was completely broken. 

The winter of 1779 and 1780 was dreadfully severe. The 
Hudson, the East River, and a large part of New York Bay, 
were solidly frozen, so that loaded wagons could cross from one 
side to the other. Washington's army, stationed at Morris- 
town, amounted to fifteen thousand men, poorly fed, 
badly clothed, and unpaid. Terms of enlistment "^ashing- 
were constantly expirmg ; tramed soldiers were re- difficulties, 
turning to their homes, and their places were being 
filled by raw militia ; and suffering and discontent prevailed 
among those who remained. Some of them — a New Jersey 



150 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 

brigade and a portion of the Pennsylvania line — actually 
mutinied. 

Congress had virtually no money with which to pay the sol- 
diers. It had been found inexpedient and impolitic to impose 
a tax on the several States. In 1775 Congress had issued 
bills of credit to the amount of $3,000,000, to be redeemed in 
gold or silver in 1779. But these bills had so 
Depreciated ^^g^^j^j^g^^ \^ valuc, that in the winter of 1770 and 

currency. _ ' ' •' 

1780 the Continental paper dollar was worth only 
two and a half cents in specie. As the value of the bills 
gradually fell off, Congress was compelled to issue more and 
more of this paper money, until it reached the enormous sum 
of $200,000,000. The natural depreciation of the currency 
was accelerated by the infamous forgeries of the enemy. The 
English counterfeits could not be distinguished from the gen- 
uine bills; so that in 1780 the Continental paper money was 
practically worthless. 

Had not Washington been loved and trusted, as no other 
man was ever loved and trusted, his army would have melted 
away into nothing, or would have marched on Congress, over- 
turned the government, and established anarchy. With a small 
army, in such a wretched condition, Washington held Clinton's 
force of thirty thousand well-equipped troops penned up in 
New York. Fortunately the British commander in chief was 
slow and timorous. Fortunately, too, he conceived the idea 
of conquering the States by moving northward from Georgia. 
Cornwallis, the second in command, disagreed with his chief, 
and thought the best plan was to make Virginia the center of 
operations. This lack of harmony was beneficial to the cause 
of independence. Such was the condition of affairs at this 
period of the Revolution. It was one of the darkest hours of 
the long night ; but it was the hour before the dawn of success. 

The patriots were greatly disappointed at the failure of the 
French fleet under D'Estaing to accomplish anything favorable 
to the Americans. Much had been expected from the French 
alliance ; but beyond its moral support — and that was worth a 



EVENTS OF 1780. 151 

great deal — it had effected thus far very little in hastening the 
overthrow of British power. The French admiral spent most 
of his time in the West Indies, fighting for his own king and 
country. At last he sent word to General Lincoln, then at 
Charleston, that he would lend his aid in a short campaign in 
Georgia. The American general immediately moved his army 
against Savannah ; but before his arrival the town had been 
invested and summoned to surrender by Count 
D'Estaing. The British general, Prevost, asked for j^^Estain 
a delay of twenty-four hours, which was unwisely 
granted. He used the time to excellent advantage in receiv- 
ing reenforcements, and in mounting additional guns. Then 
he defiantly refused to surrender. D'Estaing would not await 
the slow process of a siege ; and hence it was resolved to 
carry the town by assault. 

On the 9th of October the French and American forces, 
aided by the ships in the harbor, commenced the 
attack with great ardor ; but the defense was con- ^^''"^^ °^ 
ducted with superior skill, the British fighting be- attack, 
hind strong breastworks. The assault was repulsed, 
with great loss to the allies. Among the slain was the brave 
Count Pulaski. D'Estaing then sailed to the West Indies, 
and Lincoln returned to Charleston. 

Events of 1780. 

In pursuance of his favorite plan of conquest, and encour- 
aged by the defeat of the attack on Savannah, Clinton, leav- 
ing New York in command of General Knyphausen, sailed to 
Charleston with seven thousand veteran troops. The Ameri- 
can force for the defense of the town was only three thousand 
men, most of whom were militia. Instead of saving his 
small army by a timely retreat, Lincoln unwisely 
resolved to defend the town, urged to this course ^, ^, ° 

' o Charleston. 

by the threats of its inhabitants. When Clinton 

had finished his first parallel, he demanded a surrender, which 

Lincoln refused. The British fleet occupied the bay, and the 



152 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 

Americans had no force to oppose it. The "British army occu- 
pied every rod of tlie land in the rear ; so that the American 
army was completely surrounded. It was certain destruction 
to attempt to cut a passage through the British works. After 
a siege of two months, on the 12th of May, the American army 
capitulated, and the enemy took possession of the most impor- 
tant town in the Southern States. 

Sir Henry Clinton thinking that with the fall of Charles- 
ton, Georgia and the Carolinas were completely subdued and 
restored to the authority of the Crown, left four thousand 
troops under the command of Lord Cornwall is, and returned 
to his headquarters at New York. Before his departure, how- 
ever, he had issued some arbitrary and cruel orders, compelling 
paroled prisoners to swear allegiance to the King, and to take 
up arms against their fellow-countrymen. 

The Tories became exceedingly cruel and bloodthirsty. The 

\\'higs, as the patriots were called, were roused to fury. Armed 

men sprang up in the western mountains and in the swamps 

of South Carolina ; and, led by Sumter, Marion, 

a isan -j^^^ ^^^ Williams, fouo^ht and suffered in the cause 

chieftains. ' . 

of independence with a courage and a self-denial 
beyond all praise. Had Gates, who succeeded Lincoln, pur- 
sued Washington's Fabian policy, and avoided a battle until 
he had secured the aid of these noble partisan soldiers, he 
might have achieved a great success. ' But unfortunately for 
himself and the cause he served, he was in hot haste to immor- 
talize himself once more as at Saratoga. The change from 
Lincoln to Gates was simply a change from one poor general 
to another, perhaps to an inferior. Lee, his colleague in the 
Conway Cabal, knowing his character and abilities, wittily 
warned him on taking the command to beware that ^^ his 
7iorthei'n laurels did not turn to southern willows.''^ 

The brave Baron De Kalb was marching through an ex- 
hausted country with reenforcements from the north ; and 
finding himself unable to obtain supplies, was on the point of 
changing his course to the fertile fields of Mecklenburg when 



EVENTS OF 1780. I 53 

General Gates reached the camp. To the baron's amazement, 
he immediately issued an order to his soldiers to be ready to 
march at a moment's notice. In vain he was 
warned of the danger of a forward movement. On 
the 27th of July he commenced his march toward Camden, 
through a region of pine barrens and sand-hill swamps, where 
his army was obliged to live on lean cattle and green corn. As 
a consequence of such fare, great numbers were taken sick. 
The British commander. Lord Rawdon, had taken up a strong 
position at Camden, where he was soon afterwards joined by 
Lord Cornwallis. At two o'clock in the morning of August 
1 6th the two armies stumbled against each other, but deferred 
fighting until daylight. The enemy's army amounted to two 
thousand men, five hundred of whom were Tories; and Gates's 
army was one third larger, but two thirds were raw militia. 

The American commander was now compelled to fight, for 
retreat was more dangerous than a battle. At the first charge 
of the British, the Virginia militia, under Colonel Stevens, 
threw down their arms and fled. The North Carolina militia 
w^ere panic-stricken, and ran from the field without firing a 
shot. Gates and some of his officers did what they could to 
restore order, but in vain; and supposing that all 
was lost, and that the re^rulars had also been beaten, ^ ^^ ^ ^ ^^ 

' *=' 'at Camden. 

he placed sixty miles between himself and his pur- 
suers. The regulars, however, had not fled. On the contrary, 
they had held their ground with undaunted courage, and at one 
time, under the lead of De Kalb, had broken the British line 
by a splendid charge with the bayonet; but they were soon 
overwhelmed by superior numbers. 

A third of the Continentals were killed or wounded, and 
among them the brave De Kalb, who died three days after the 
battle. Gates's army as a military organization was simply 
destroyed. Had it not been for his unmerited Saratoga fame, 
he would have been court-martialed and dismissed from the 
service. In his misfortunes Washington exhibited toward him 
a generosity and magnanimity which he did not deserve. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR — Continued. 

" Oh, that a soldier so glorious, ever victorious in fight, 
Passed from a daylight of honor into the terrible night ; 
Fell as the mighty archangel, ere the earth glowed in space, fell — 
Fell from the patriot's heaven down to the loyalist's hell." 

The Treason of Benedict Arnold. 

. The blackest crime of the Revolution was the treason of 
Benedict Arnold. A courageous soldier, bold to temerity, he 
seems to have been born without a conscience, 
arges ^^ ^^^^^ therefore, utterly selfish and unprincipled. 
Arnold. O^i account of the wound received at Saratoga, he 
was appointed commandant at Philadelphia where 
he gratified his pride by living far beyond his means. His 
debts were large and pressing. The means he took to re- 
trieve his fortunes were incompatible with 
his position as a general officer. The Ex- 
ecutive Council of Pennsylvania brought 
eight charges against him; but as he was 
a United States officer they were forwarded 
to Congress, together with documents and 
a letter from President Reed. This was 
exceedingly mortifying to Arnold's pride, 
the more particularly as he was engaged 
to Miss Shippen, whom he subsequently 
married. She was the daughter of a Phila- 
delphia merchant of Tory opinions. 
The Congressional Committee acquitted Arnold of all 
criminality, but recommended that he should be tried by 
court-martial on certain charges which only a military tribunal 
could notice. On two of the charges he was found guilty, 

154 




Arnold. 



ARNOLD'S TREASON. I 55 

and sentenced to a reprimand from the commander in chief. 
Washington performed this duty in the kindest and most deli- 
cate manner. The reprimand assumed the form of 
a eulo2:y. But Arnold's hau£^hty soul was mortified ^^° ^ ^^^"" 

°-' o ^ manded by 

beyond healing. From this moment he resolved to Washington, 
betray his country. In July, 1780, he sought and 
obtained the position of commandant at West Point, the key 
of the Hudson, and the means of communication between the 
New England and the Middle States. This fortress and its 
dependencies once in the hands of the enemy, either of two 
things must happen, the subjugation of the States, or the 
indefinite prolongation of the war. 

Under the assumed name of Gustavus, Arnold opened com- 
munication with Sir Henry Clinton, through the intervention 
of his adjutant general. Major Andre', who had taken the name 
of John Anderson, and pretended to be a merchant. Their 
correspondence was conducted in mercantile phrases. 
They haggled like a pair of sordid traders about the ^.^^^ Andre, 
price of treason. Finally it was agreed that Arnold 
should receive the position of brigadier general, and ten thou- 
sand pounds sterling, for the surrender of West Point. In 
order to finish the bargain and sale, Andre was induced to 
enter within the American lines in disguise. When everything 
was settled to the satisfaction of both, Arnold furnished him 
with a passport, with which he tried to reach New York. 

He had actually reached the British lines at Tarrytown, a 
region overrun with Tories, called " cow boys," when he was 
suddenly brought to a stand by three patriots, John Paulding, 
Isaac Van Wart, and David Williams. Mistaking them for 
friends, he betrayed himself. He then offered them 
his watch and money if they would let him go free. ^^^^^ 
But they were incorruptible. They carried him a ^^.^^^ ^^j 
prisoner to Northcastle. By a deplorable blunder executed. 
Arnold was apprised of Andre's arrest, and fled 
with all haste to the British ship Vulture, then at anchor in 
the Hudson. Andre was subsequently tried by court-martial, 



156 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 

and very properly condemned and executed as a spy. A great 
deal of sentimentality was consumed to save this young man 
from the fate he deserved. But Washington was unyielding. 
He offered to return him to his friend Clinton, provided the 
latter would give up Arnold to the Americans. The British 
general declined the offer; and the greater of the two crim- 
inals lived to become, if possible, more infamous by the pur- 
suits of robbery, arson, and murder, even in his own native 
State of Connecticut. 

Victories in the South, 1780. 

Except for the guerilla warfare carried on by the partisan 
patriots, Cornwallis, since Gates's disastrous defeat, was in 
possession of Georgia and the Carolinas. And to put an end 
to all opposition, he sent out Ferguson and the ferocious 
Tarleton to find and disperse these audacious ''rebels." The 
former was directed to march to the relief of Augusta, which 
was besieged by the Americans under Colonel Clark. 

He had hardly started, however, when word reached him 
that a large body of riflemen from Kentucky and North Caro- 
lina, under Colonel Campbell, were moving to the assistance 
of Clark. This completely turned the tables. Ferguson was 
compelled to retreat before a superior force. The British 
commander on the 7th of October took a position on the 
summit of Kings Mountain, and deemed it impregnable. 
But the Americans in three divisions charged up 

Battle of ^j^^ mountain ; and both sides fought with desper- 

Mountlin. ^tc valor, until the death of Ferguson caused his 
soldiers to throw down their arms and fly. The 
Americans won a splendid victory. Three hundred of the 
enemy were killed or wounded, and eight hundred prisoners 
taken. They captured also sixteen hundred stands of arms 
intended for the Tory militia. By this signal defeat of the 
British, their army was reduced one quarter. What Bennington 
was to Burgoyne, Kings Mountain was to Cornwallis. From 
this time the tide of war turned in favor of the Revolution. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR - Continued. 

" 'Tis much he dares ; 
And, to that dauntless temper of his mind, 
He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valor 
To act in safety." 



Events of 1781, 

Next to Washington, Greene was undoubtedly the ablest 
general in the American army. From the very beginning of 
the war he displayed talents of the highest order 



tactician, and strategist. Often- 



Nathaniel 
Greene. 



times commanding raw militia, he was defeated in 
battle, but never routed; and many of his defeats were equiv- 
alent to victories. His patriotism w^as pure and exalted; and 
to Washington he was always 
loyal. The friendship between 
these two great men was only 
terminated by death. When 
Washington recommended 
Greene for the position of 
chief commander in the South 
to succeed the unfortunate 
Gates, he said, '' I can at 
least send you a general.'''' 

Greene's treatment of his 
predecessor was magnanimous. 
On assuming command, he 
found Gates at Charlotte 
utterly depressed by defeat 
and by the death of his son. 
Congress had ordered a court of inquiry into his conduct. 

157 




Greene. 



To add to his misfortunes, 



1.8 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 



A terrible fall was this for the man who had conspired to 
supersede Washington, whom he had wantonly insulted after 
the surrender of Burgoyne. But Greene, in his generosity 
toward a fallen foe, made several excuses for postponing 
the investigation; and Gates quietly returned to his farm in 
Virginia where he remained without command until the close 
of the war. The commander in chief wrote him a letter 

of sympathy which he little 
deserved, for he had been 
Washington ' s worst and 
meanest enemy. 

Greene found at Charlotte 
an army of twenty-three hun- 
dred men, utterly demoral- 
ized by defeat, badly clothed, 
and poorly fed. He went to 
work with his usual energy 
to establish order and disci- 
pline, to reorganize his forces, 
and to promote harmony 
among his officers. His sa- 
gacity and genial manners 
very soon won the confidence of his subordinates. Like 
Washington, he kept his own counsel and was resolved to 
pursue the Fabian policy of delay, to avoid battles unless he 
was strong enough to strike with a good chance of success. 
He had been a careful student of the art of war, one of the 
rules of which is, the smaller the force the more closely it must 
be kept together. He knew that a veteran general like Corn- 
wallis would always conform to the written rules. So, for 
the purpose of confusing his antagonist, Greene deliberately 
violated them by dividing his small force, and sending Mor- 
gan forth with a thousand men, directing him to 
Mor an ^^^^ ^ position at Ninety-Six, and collect the mili- 
tia of the district. This produced the desired 
efi"ect. Cornwallis was bewildered, and divided his force. 




Cornwallis, 



EVENTS OF 1781. 



159 



His army having been reenforced by fifteen hundred men, 
under General Leslie, was being prepared for a second inva- 
sion of North Carolina, for the purpose of placing it between 
Greene and reenforcements from the North. But fearing to 
leave so active a general as Morgan in his rear, he sent out 
Colonel Tarleton with eleven hundred choice troops, with 
orders to push the Americans to the uttermost. Cornwallis 
then marched to the northwest with the main body of his 
army, to cut off Morgan's retreat, or to prevent his joining 
Greene. 

Now commenced one of the most extraordinary campaigns 
in history. Tarleton overtook Morgan at the Cowpens, where 
he had halted to give his soldiers a night's repose. 
The British commander, in hot haste to reach the Tadlt'on 
Americans, had exhausted his troops by a night 
march. Morgan had been advised to retreat across the Broad 
River, six miles in his rear, and take to the mountains. But 
he well knew that to retreat was even more dangerous than 
to fight; for Tarleton would surely attack him while crossing. 
Morgan then posted his men on two heights, the one nearest 
the enemy held by the militia, and the other by the Continen- 
tals, on whose valor he could depend. 

At eight o'clock on the morning of the 17th of January, 
Tarleton commenced the attack with his usual impetuosity. 
As Morgan had anticipated, the militia after their first fire 
fell back. The British pressed forward, and threw the second 
line into confusion. At this moment Morgan rode up and 
ordered a retreat to where Colonel Washington's cavalry were 
hurrving: forward to support the disordered Ameri- 

* r ^ r ^17 1 • . 11 c Battle of 

cans. A fierce onset by Washmgton, a volley ot q^ ^s. 
musketry at close range by Howard, and a bayonet 
charge, threw the enemy into confusion, and decided the for- 
tune of the day. The British became panic-stricken, aban- 
doned their guns and colors, and fled in utter dismay. The 
cruel Tarleton barely escaped with his life. Morgan's victory 
was complete. The British lost three hundred in killed and 



l6o THE REVOLUTIOXARY WAR. 

wounded, and six hundred taken prisoners. The American 
loss was only twelve killed and sixty wounded. 

Morgan's position Avas now critical. With less than a 
thousand men, he was compelled to guard six hundred 
prisoners. Cornwallis was only twenty-five miles distant; 
and Tarleton would soon inform him of his disastrous defeat. 
It therefore behooved Morgan to be on the alert, or all the 
beneficial effects of his victory would be lost. He 
organ s jn^niediately crossed the Broad River, and placed 

retreat. -' ' ^ 

his prisoners under the care of Colonel Washing- 
ton, with orders to move higher up the country and cross the 
Catawba at the Island Ford. He himself took the direct 
route to that river. 

Cornwallis was more than surprised, he was thunderstruck, 
at Tarleton's defeat. He was impatient to pursue the Amer- 
icans, but was compelled to wait two days at Turkey Creek 
to collect his scattered dragoons and to receive reenforce- 
ments on their way from the coast, under General Leslie. On 
the 19th he commenced the pursuit of Morgan. Thinking 
the latter was encumbered with prisoners, Cornwallis turned 
a part of his army into light troops, and pushed them forward 
with all speed, while he followed with the re- 
Morgan mainder. Morgan crossed the Catawba only two 
crosses ^q^j-s before the enemy appeared on the opposite 
Catawba, bank of the river. That night a heavy rain set 
in, which so swelled the river that it became 
impassable. The rain continued for several days, so that 
Morgan had time to send off his prisoners. Cornwallis 's 
main army was delayed by an immense baggage train which 
the British commander destroyed in order that nothing should 
hinder the pursuit. Greene, attended by a single 
'^^^"^ aid-de-camp and a sergeant's guard, set out to join 
command. Morgan whose camp he reached on the last day 
of January. Greene's Fabian policy was to con- 
tinually tempt his adversary with the prospect of a battle, 
but always to avoid it; to draw him higher up in the country, 



EVENTS OF 1781. l6l 

far away from his base of supplies; and to perpetually 
harass him by cutting off his convoys and foraging parties. 

As the swollen river subsided, the American commander 
ordered Morgan with his division to march for the Yadkin, 
and thus gain a day on the enemy. A severe skirmish took 
place between the British and the American rear guard which 
had endeavored to prevent Cornwallis from cross- 
ing the river. On the 3d of February the enemy 
reached the Yadkin; but to their mortification they vadkin. 
found Greene on the east bank, and all the boats 
with him on the other side. Again they were delayed, while 
the Americans marched on in safety until they were joined 
by the main army under General Huger. 

It was Greene's intention to honor General Morgan by 
assigning him to the command of the rear guard; but, that 
officer being taken sick, the place was given to Colonel 
Williams who had as subordinates, Howard, Washington, and 
Lee, all able and energetic officers. Cornwallis crossed the 
Yadkin twenty-five miles north, at the Shallow Ford, and posted 
his army at Salem. Greene called a council of war, to obtain 
the opinions of his officers regarding the advisability of fight- 
ing the enemy. But they were unanimously opposed to a 
battle in the present condition of the army. Cornwallis was 
superior in numbers, discipline, and equipment; and hence 
the retreat must be continued. 

Greene's next object was to cross the Dan and enter Virginia 
where he would be in position to receive reenforcements and 
supplies. But Cornwallis was determined to prevent this 
movement and force a battle while the American army was 
between the rivers Yadkin and Dan, and between himself and 
Lord Rawdon. The British commander was con- 
stantly misinformed. He heard that the Dan Greene 

11 1 1 • 1 1 t ^ crosses the 

could not be crossed without boats and that none j^^^^ 
could be obtained. He therefore pushed forward 
with all haste to cut off Greene from the shallow fords higher 
up the river. But the American general, as usual, had fore- 

HUNT. U. S. HIST. — 11 



1 62 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 

seen the contingency and, through his agents, had collected a 
sufficient number of boats to enable his army to cross in 
safety. He then took a strong position at the junction of the 
Dan and Staunton Rivers. He had now twenty-five miles the 
advantage, with a broad river between himself and the enemy. 
At last he was in a place of safety with all his prisoners. 
Cornwallis was extremely mortified; for he had been com- 
pletely out-generaled. 

In this retreat across three broad and rapid rivers, over 
a wide extent of wild and uncultivated territory, encumbered 
with prisoners amounting to more than a fourth of his army, 
Greene exhibited all the qualities of a great general — saga- 
city, foresight, activity, and indomitable persever- 
ance. Almost any general may fis^ht and win a 

superior jo jo 

generalship, battle ; but to conduct a retreat under such adverse 
circumstances, keeping his army intact through all 
its privations and sufferings, proved the truth of Washington's 
recommendation when he wrote, "I can send you at least a 
general;'''' and a general was sent "whose head was a coun- 
cil and whose military talents were equal to a reenf orcement. " 
Cornwallis perceived that it was dangerous to pursue Greene 
into Virginia, and thought it wiser to claim the glory of hav- 
ing driven the American army out of the Carolinas, and of 
having established the authority of the Crown in the Southern 
States. Resting his troops for a day, he com- 

Cornwallis's i , i ^ ^i 

, , menced a retroo^rade movement over the same 

empty glory. ® 

ground he had covered in the pursuit. Greene, 
fearing the effect of leaving Cornwallis in undisputed posses- 
sion of the South, resolved at all risks to reenter North 
Carolina, even if he were obliged to hazard a battle. He 
sent a portion of his army, under Pickens and "Lighthorse" 
Harry Lee, with orders to place themselves in front of the 
enemy, but always at a safe distance, and cut off his com- 
munication with the malicious Tories. Greene remained on 
the north bank of the Dan with the main body, for the pur- 
pose of observing the designs of the British. 



EVENTS OE 1781. 1 63 

Hearing an exaggerated account that many Tories were 
flocking to the enemy's standard, the American commander, 
now reenforced by six hundred militia under General Stevens, 
recrossed the Dan, resolved at all hazards to put an end to the 
recruiting of Cornwallis's army. In the event of either de- 
feat or victory, the movement would be a wise and a bold one. 
He took a position about fifteen miles north of the 
British, in order to cut them off from the upper Greene 
counties, to harass them with skirmishes, to cut off ^.^^ -^^^ 
their foraging parties, and otherwise to annoy them ; 
in a word, to gain delay until reenforcements arrived from the 
north. Greene's great military skill enabled him to avoid 
a general battle. He changed his camp every day or two, and 
so arranged his troops that Cornwallis fancied that his army 
amounted to eight thousand men. 

Finally, for the sake of the good cause, Greene determined 
to risk a battle. He chose a strong position on a wooded hill 
about a mile south of Guilford Court House. He formed his 
army in three lines, about three hundred yards apart. The first 
and second were composed of militia, and the third of Con- 
tinentals. The enemy advanced against the first line, which 
simply fired a scattering volley without aim and then fied, some 
to the woods, and others to the ranks of the second line which 
opened to allow them to pass. The second line, under Stevens, 
fought bravely and held their ground until the British reserves 
charged them with the bayonet, and forced them back on the 
third line. Greene relied on these troops to re- 
trieve the fortune of the day ; and to encourage Battle of 
them he rode along the line, calling on them to ^^^^^ House 
stand firm and give the enemy a warm reception. 
There was desperate fighting on both sides, charges and coun- 
tercharges of cavalry and with the bayonet. But Greene, per- 
ceiving that he could not afford to lose any more of his regular 
troops, wisely ordered a retreat, which was effected in good 
order, to his former position at Troublesome Creek. Corn- 
wallis gained nothing but the empty honor of the field. The 



164 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 

British were so cut up and exhausted that they were unable to 
pursue the Americans. Cornwallis lost one fourth of his army 
— a loss which it was difficult to repair. Mr. Fox was not 
far wrong when he stated in the House of Commons that, 
"another such victory would ruin the British Army." 

The victory of Cornwallis was really equivalent to a defeat; 
for he was not only unable to follow it up, but was compelled 
to retreat to a safer position, leaving behind a number of his 
soldiers too badly wounded to bear the fatigue of transporta- 
tion. Just as soon as the British commenced their retrograde 
movement Greene, always on the alert to seize 

Greene evcry Opportunity to harass the enemy, determined 

thTenem ^^ pursuc and, if possible, bring on another battle. 

He overtook Cornwallis at Deep River; but the 

British general had taken the precaution to destroy the bridge 

and put an end to the pursuit. 

The American army was small, and, as usual at this period, 
poorly supplied with food and clothing. The terms of enlist- 
ment of many of the militia had expired, and they were so 
reduced by hardship and privations that they refused to remain 
any longer. To follow Cornwallis farther toward his base at 
Wilmington would be madness. But the active and indefati- 
gable American commander could not remain idle. 

Invasion -gy ^ \,q\^ Stroke of military genius he invaded 

Carolina. South Carolina, and thus compelled Cornwallis to 
do either of two things, pursue him, or abandon 
the State to the Americans. Greene then notified Lee, Pick- 
ens, Sumter, and Marion of his plans, and requested them to 
raise all the militia they could. Dismissing his North Caro- 
lina militia with thanks, and resting his wearied soldiers for 
a few days, he resolved to march against Lord Rawdon at 
Camden. 

In the meantime. Lord Cornwallis continued his retreat to 
Wilmington ; and when he heard of Greene's daring invasion 
he was extremely mortified. He was unable to aid Rawdon, 
and he feared the worst should the Americans attack him. 



EVENTS OF 1781. 1 65 

In a vain attempt to play Greene's game, Cornwallis aban- 
doned North Carolina, and entered Virginia, in the hope of 
compelling Greene in turn to abandon South Carolina. But the 
American commander was too astute to fall into such an error; 
and Cornwallis was permitted to march undisturbed into the 
trap where he was subsequently caught. 

Greene finding Rawdon too strongly posted at Camden to 
warrant an attack, took up a position at Hobkirks Hill, 
within twenty miles of the enemy, hoping to force 
a battle on ground of his own choosing. On the battle of 
25th of April, Rawdon made an attack, and a ^^.j^j^ 
severe battle was fought, in which the Americans 
fell back ; but Greene inflicted such damage on Rawdon that 
he was compelled to return to his intrenchments. 

Greene perceiving Rawdon's superiority in numbers and 
equipment, at first resolved to retreat toward the mountains, in 
order to refresh and recruit his small army. Learning, how- 
ever, that the British general had abandoned Camden, he 
changed his plan, and commenced a series of attacks on the 
British posts. Forts lylotte and Granby were taken ; 
Augusta and Ninety-Six were besieged. The attack Attack on 
on the former failed and the latter was relieved by ^"^'^^ p°^** 

•' in South 

the arrival of reenforcements under Rawdon. This Carolina, 
compelled Greene to retreat to Bush River, twenty 
miles distant, to observe the enemy's movements. The British 
general started out with a strong force in pursuit of the Ameri- 
cans ; but, as after the battle of Guilford Court House, Greene 
quickly turned the pursuit into a retreat, and when he overtook 
Rawdon, he found him too strongly posted to warrant an 
attack. Hearing that the garrison at Ninety-Six were moving 
to reenforce the enemy, he retreated to the hills on the Santee 
where he allowed his soldiers to rest and recuperate after all 
their weary marches and counter-marches. In the meantime, 
he sent out Lee, Marion, Sumter, and other able officers to 
harass the enemy. Lord Rawdon retired from the command 
in the South and was succeeded by Colonel Stuart. 



1 66 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 

Neither money nor reenforcements could be sent to Greene, 
because the Continental bills were worthless, and Washington 
in conjunction with the French was determined to make a 
supreme effort to end the war. Greene was, however, full of 
resources; and he determined to attack the British posts. 
With his small army he resolved first to drive Stuart behind 
his works in Charleston. 

He overtook the enemy at Eutaw Springs where the last 

considerable battle of the war took place. Both sides fought 

with courage and determination. A desperate 

Battle of charge by Colonels Williams and Campbell, drove 

^ ".^^ the British in confusion from the field, some of their 

springs. 

troops continuing their headlong flight to within a 
few miles of Charleston. A portion of the enemy, however, 
took refuge in a brick house near the field of battle, from 
which they could not be dislodged without severe loss. So, 
to save his men, Greene ordered a retreat to his former 
position. 

The British had been so badly punished that they fled dur- 
ing the night; and such was their haste to escape that they 
destroyed quantities of provisions and arms intended for their 
Tory allies. All the advantages of victory were with the 
Americans. Greene pursued Stuart to within twenty miles 
of Charleston, and then forced him to abandon all his posts, 
and confine himself to Savannah, Charleston, and Wilmington, 
under protection of his works and war-vessels. 

Taking into account the demoralized condition of the army 
when he assumed command, the slender aid furnished by 
Congress, the want of money, clothing, provisions, everything, 
Greene's campaigns against Cornwallis, Rawdon, and Stuart, 
and his recovery of three great States by the aid of a handful 
of Continentals, assisted by untrained militia and independent 
partisans, proved him a general of the first rank whose success 
under the circumstances was simply marvelous. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR — Continued. 

" Thus far our fortune keeps an upward course, 
And we are graced with wreaths of victory." 

Events in Virginia, 1781. 

While the energetic Greene was straining every nerve to 
recover the Carolinas, the traitor Arnold, with sixteen hundred 
men and some armed vessels, was ordered by Sir Henry 
Clinton to ravage the coast of Virginia. He landed below 
Richmond and soon afterwards seized the town. He destroyed 
great quantities of tobacco and other property, extending his 
devastations in different directions, and manifesting as much 
energy in injuring as he had formerly done in serving his 
country. Washington, fearing that the British 
might permanently establish themselves in Vir- of^rno?! 
ginia, the most important of the States, detached 
Lafayette to check and, if possible, to capture the traitor. At 
the same time he urged the French stationed at Newport to 
cooperate with the marquis. Accordingly, the French admiral 
D'Estouches set sail for the Chesapeake with a considerable 
fleet and fifteen hundred soldiers. But unfortunately he en- 
countered the British fleet under Arbuthnot off the coast of 
Virginia. The contending forces were nearly equal, and the 
action was indecisive. The French, however, returned to 
Rhode Island; and thus Arnold once more escaped the 
gibbet. 

The traitor was superseded in command by General Phillips, 
who reached Virginia with a force of two thousand men, which, 
combined with the troops already there, was too formidable to 
be opposed in the open field by the little army under Lafay- 
ette. The Baron Steuben made an attempt to jDrevent Phillips 

167 



1 68 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 



from entering Petersburg, but was compelled to retreat. The 
British then commenced a vindictive and wanton destruction 
of private property along the coast, and for a considerable 
distance into the interior. The destruction of public property 
the British general could justify under the laws 
Disgraceful of war ; but no excuse could be made for the ter- 
rible crimes committed against non-combatants. 
Phillips disgraced his previous good record, on 
the eve of his death, by these acts of vandalism. 
In spite of Cornwallis's so-called victories, Greene had in 
reality driven him to the 
coast and compelled him to 



conduct of 
General 
Phillips. 



seek refuge 



in Wilmington. 



Here he recruited his ex- 
hausted army. For some 
time he was undecided 
whether to pursue the in- 
defatigable Greene, or form 
a junction with Phillips and 
complete the conquest of 
Virginia. Having " sub- 
dued" the Carolinas (as he 
had proclaimed), he thought 
he could gain 

Cornwallis ^^^^j^ ^ ^ 

invades . __. . . 

Virginia, placing Virginia 

under the British yoke. At the end of April he 
commenced his fatal march which he performed in less than 
a month. A reenforcement of fifteen hundred troops from 
New York and the union of all the forces in Virginia, gave 
Cornwallis a formidable army of eight thousand 
men with w^hich to begin the work of subjugation. 
Against such a force as that commanded by 
Cornwallis, Lafayette could accomplish little or nothing. 
If he could preserve his little army from destruction and 
annoy the enemy whenever an opportunity offered, he was 




Lafayett 



Military 
operations. 



EVENTS OF 1781. 



169 




Rochambeau. 



doing all that could be expected. Washington directed him 
to hold the British in Virginia and, if possible, to prevent 
their escape to North Carolina until 
he had completed his plan of cam- 
paign in conjunction with Rocham- 
beau and Ue Grasse. 

While Lafayette, ably assisted by 
Steuben and Wayne, held the enemy 
in check and yet skillfully avoided 
a general action, the American com- 
mander in chief commenced a series 
of movements by which he com- 
pletely outwitted and out-generaled 
Sir Henry Clinton. He acted as 
if he intended to make an effort to 
capture New York, when in reality 

he meant to capture Cornwallis. With this object in view 
he moved his army toward the Harlem River and afterwards 
a portion of it along the Jersey shore, as if he 
intended to attack the British on Staten Island. 

out-generals 

Sir Henry Clinton was so deceived and alarmed ciinton. 
by these movements that he collected all his 
available forces (among them three thousand Hessians who 
should have reenforced Cornwallis), in order to save New York 
from the impending assault. 

In the meantime, Washington was secretly and silently mov- 
ing his army to Philadelphia by one road, while by another 
road Rochambeau was marching toward the same city. In all 
these movements Washington proved himself a consummate 
master of the art of war. The British general patriotism 
never discovered that the siege of New York had of Robert 
been raised until the 2d of September, when the Morris, 
allied army was passing through Philadelphia, where it had 
been supplied with provisions and military stores by the 
energy and patriotism of Robert Morris who borrowed money 
on his own credit. General Heath had been left at West 



I/O THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 

Point with a force of three thousand to observe and report 
the movements of the enemy. 

In the hope of arousing Washington's fears for the safety of 
New England and diverting him from his campaign against 
Corn wall is, Clinton sent the traitor Arnold, with a force of 
seventeen hundred men, on a marauding expedition into Con- 
necticut. He landed at the mouth of the Thames and cap- 
tured and burnt the town of New London within a stone's 
throw of his native town of Norwich. The Amer- 
'^"° ^ ican soldiers at Fort Griswold, after their surren- 

cruelty. 

der, were inhumanly butchered. Although Arnold 
was not responsible for this atrocity, his other acts of cruelty 
at this time were a fitting conclusion of his infamous career 
since he sold himself to the enemy of his country. 

Washington, however, was too wise to be diverted from 
his purpose by such feeble predatory movements. The allied 
army pressed forward into Virginia, their objective 
point being the British army under Cornwallis who 

hemmed in . . . . 

atYorktown ^^^<^ taken a strong position at Yorktown, on the 
York River. So thoroughly had Washington de- 
ceived Cornwallis, as well as Clinton, that the former think- 
ing that he had only Lafayette to contend against, offered 
to send Clinton reenforcements to enable him to defend New 
York from a threatened attack. Washington, now commander 
in chief of the combined French and American armies, gradu- 
ally and surely cut off the retreat of the British by land, while 
Count De Grasse prevented their escape by sea. The English 
admiral Graves made an unsuccessful attempt to break the 
blockade of the Chesapeake. 

Yorktown had been fortified with seven redoubts and six 
batteries on the land side. On both flanks it was protected 
by creeks and ravines. Gloucester Point, on the opposite bank 
of the river, was fortified and commanded by Colonel Dundas. 
The safety of Cornwallis depended on the energy and activ- 
ity of Clinton; but fortunately for the cause of independence 
this general was slow and indolent, if not stupid. 



Cornwallis 



EVENTS OF 1781. I71 

On the I St of October, the besieging army amounting to 
twelve thousand men, exclusive of militia, completely invested 
Yorktown, forming a semicircle whose extremities rested on 
the river, and cutting off all communication with the land. 
On the 6th the first parallel was opened against the enemy, 
and on the 9th it was completed. Red-hot shot 
was hred from the French batteries which set fire ^'^^^ °^ 

-r . . 1 1 . . Yorktown. 

to the British shipping and many of the houses in 
the town. On the nth the second parallel was opened, within 
three hundred yards of the enemy's works; and on the 14th 
two redoubts were captured, one by Colonel Hamilton, after- 
wards the famous Secretary of the Treasury, and the other by 
the French under the Baron De Viomenil. So eager was 
Washington to witness the assaults that he constantly exposed 
himself to the enemy's fire. When one of his officers ventured 
to warn him of his danger, he coolly replied: "If you think 
so, you are at liberty to step back." 

The position of Cornwallis was now desperate. He must 
either surrender or make an attempt to escape. He formed 
the bold plan of abandoning his baggage and his sick and 
wounded, of crossing over to Gloucester Point, of attacking 
the French troops on that side of the river, and of mounting 
his infantry on the captured horses, and then cutting his way 
northward to join Clinton in New York. But a violent storm 
prevented his carrying out his daring design. No reenforce- 
ments reaching him from the north, his guns dismounted, his 
sick and wounded daily increasing, there was nothing left for 
him but to surrender. 

On the morning of Oct. 17 he sent a flag to Washington, 
proposing a cessation of hostilities for twenty-four hours, 
and that two officers be appointed by each side to settle the 
terms for the surrender of Yorktown and Gloucester. But 
Washington, fearing that reenforcements might be on their 
way from New York, would only grant two hours in which to 
receive such proposals as the British commander might offer. 
Cornwallis's terms were not accepted. 



1/2 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 

Finally, after some delay, on Oct. 19, Washington pre- 
sented the only terms of capitulation to which he would 
consent. These were that all the ships of war and other 
vessels should be given up to the Count De Grasse; that all 
the soldiers should be prisoners to the United States, and 
all the seamen prisoners to the King of France; and that the 
officers should retain their side arms, and both officers and 
men their private property. General Lincoln, who had sur- 
rendered Charleston, was selected by Washington 
Y^Tt ^^ ° ^^ receive the submission of the royal army. It 
was a terrible blow to the pride and military fame 
of Cornwallis. But he had no alternative since his failure 
to escape by way of Gloucester. He was compelled to surren- 
der an army of eight thousand men; on the very day, too, 
that the tardy Clinton, with seven thousand troops, started for 
his relief. 

When the news of this splendid victory reached the people, 
their joy was unbounded; for they felt that it virtually ended 
the war and secured their independence. Congress issued a 
proclamation appointing a day of thanksgiving and prayer to 
the Almighty through whose assistance the American people 
had been able to overcome their tyrant and oppressor. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR - Continued. 

" This hand, to tyrants ever sworn the foe, 
For freedom only deals the deadly blow ; 
Then sheathes in calm repose the vengeful blade 
For gentle peace in freedom's hallowed shade." 

" An old affront will stir the heart 
Through years of rankling pain." 

The End of the War. 

As far as active military operations were concerned, the sur- 
render of Cornwallis virtually ended the long war of indepen- 
dence. Except for a few desultory raids or skirmishes here 
and there, the opposing armies had ceased hostilities. The 
fleet under Count De Grasse had sailed away to the West 
Indies ; the French soldiers under Rochambeau had retired to 
winter quarters in Virginia ; and the American army had resumed 
the old position at and near West Point. When the news 
of the great disaster to the British army reached London, 
George III. and his ministers were struck with dismay. His 
Majesty urged a vigorous prosecution of the war, although a 
majority of his subjects were strongly opposed to it. Through- 
out the protracted struggle there was a powerful party in favor 
of America. The Puritan descendants of those 

British 

who defeated Charles I. naturally sympathized with sympa- 
the colonists in their contest for liberty. But sym- thizers with 
pathy was not limited to the Puritans in England, '^'^^"'^a. 
The elder Pitt, known as the Earl of Chatham, Edmund 
Burke, John Wilkes, Colonel Barre, and many others were 
strong and influential advocates of the rights of the American 
people. The common sense of the people of Great Britain re- 
volted against the mad attempt of the King to coerce half a 

173 



1/4 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 

continent. Already blood and treasure had been spent in 
vain; and the people who furnished the men and the money 
were heartily tired and sick of the war. Hence there was a 
general clamor for peace. 

On the 2d of February, 1782, a resolution was passed in the 
House of Commons declaring those who advised a prolon- 
gation of the war enemies of their country. The minister's 




Franklin. 

majority in the House grew gradually smaller, until at last the 

King threatened that if he was not supported in his tyranny 

against the United States, he would abandon the 

George iii.'s countrv, and retire to Holland. This was a foolish 
foolish , .,.,,. ,^ . 

threat, threat, which his Majesty never meant to carry out. 

Lord North, who had been the King's worst adviser, 
was driven from office and a new administration friendly to 
America was placed in power. 

Many and serious difficulties arose on account of the com- 
plications with France and Spain, America's allies, which were 



TROUBLES AFTER THE WAR. 175 

also at war with Great Britain. A compact had been formed 
by which it was stipulated that no one of the allies could make 
peace without the consent of the other two. There was delay 
about the question whether independence should precede or 
follow a treaty of peace. There was trouble, too, in regard 
to boundaries. Great Britain claimed the Ohio Valley and a 
portion of Maine ; and she desired compensation for the losses 
sustained by her Tory supporters. 

Congress appointed four very able men, John Adams, Ben- 
jamin Franklin, John Jay, and Henry Laurens, to act with the 
English commissioners Fitzjierbert and Oswald in arranging 
provisional articles of peace. Finally, after much 
discussion, a provisional treaty of peace was signed "^^^^^^ °^ 
at Paris on the 30th of November, 1782, by which 
the boundaries of the United States were fixed as follows: on 
the east the St. Croix River; on the north the St. Lawrence 
and the Lakes; on the west the Mississippi, which was to be 
free to both nations; and on the south a line extending from 
the north of Florida to the Mississippi. The final treaty of 
Paris was not signed, until the 3d of September, 1783. By 
this treaty Great Britain acknowledged the United States to 
be free, sovereign, and independent. 

Troubles After the War. 

In the meantime, during this long delay of two years, the 
United States had undergone some severe trials. Among 
these the Vermont difficulty was not the least. It will be 
remembered that the men of Vermont, known as the "Green 
Mountain Boys," had proved fearless patriots and rendered 
excellent service in the cause of independence. They won 
the battle of Bennington, which was really the decisive blow 
that paralyzed Burgoyne and ultimately compelled his sur- 
render at Saratoga. For this they deserved something from 
Congress, and all they asked was admission into the Union. 
But New York and New Hampshire claimed the territory un- 
der old land grants; and the former, aided by the Southern 



176 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 

States, interposed objection. The South did not want a new 

Northern State without a new Southern State to balance it. 

The "Green Mountain Boys," under the lead of Ethan Allen, 

threatened that unless Vermont was admitted into 

mission ^^ Union as an independent sovereign State, they 

Vermont, would make the territory a British province. The 
trouble continued until 1791, when Congress ad- 
mitted Vermont into the Union. Her western boundary was 
established twenty miles east of the Hudson. 

A long war inevitably leads to demoralization. In 1782 
the people were poor. The country, especially in the South, 
had been devastated. The currency, as already stated, was 
almost worthless. The army had not been paid, and the fam- 
ilies of the officers and men were suffering untold misery. 
They were almost in a state of mutiny. Sir Guy 

'^•°h h^ Carleton, a very able commander, had superseded 
army. Sir Henry Clinton; so that if the war should be 
resumed, Washington would have opposed to him 
an active and energetic general. The British still held New 
York, Savannah, and Charleston. The American commander 
in chief at Newburg, with his poorly equipped and discon- 
tented army, could scarcely maintain discipline. Some of his 
officers urged him to play the part of a Cromwell, march 
against Congress, and overturn the government. 

But the patriotism of Washington triumphed over all diffi- 
culties. He soothed the irritation of the army, and prevented 
a great disaster. Had he been selfishly ambitious during this 
period of discontent and disorder; had he listened to the sug- 
gestions of some of his friends who doubted the ability of 
the people to govern themselves, he might have ascended a 
... , . ^ , throne established on the ruins of the Republic. 

vvasnington s ^ 

patience One of his officcrs. Colonel Nicola, a foreigner 

and in the service of the United States, wrote a letter 

patriotism. ^^ ^|^^ commaudcr in chief, in which he pointed out 

the advantages of the monarchical form of government, with 

Washington as king. But Washington's decisive and indig- 



TROUBLES AFTER THE WAR. 



177 



nant reply put an end to all hopes in this direction. He 
had received his commission from Congress, and to Congress 
he surrendered it, after a splendid service of seven years, 
such a service as no other man had ever given to an infant 
nationality, and he quietly retired to his plantation on the 
banks of the Potomac. 

He had previously bidden good-by to the army which had 
followed him so long and so faithfully; to the officers, to whom 
he was endeared by a thousand acts of justice, 
kindness, and generosity. The war was ended, the . ^, "V ? 

^ c3 J 'of New York, 

victory was won. Savannah was evacuated during Savannah, 
the summer, New York on the 25th of November, and Charies- 
and Charleston in December; so that in the be- *°"' 
ginning of 1783 there was not a single British soldier from 
Massachusetts to Georgia. 

No sooner were the British armies gone and peace com- 
pletely established, than serious difficulties arose which 
threatened the destruction of the Republic. The Articles of 
Confederation under which the United States had waged a 
successful war against the mighty power of Great Britain were 
found inadequate, even in time of common danger, to meet 
the necessities of the army and the requirements of Congress. 
Now that the danger of subjugation was removed, the several 
States, acting as independent sovereignties, op- 
posed the imposition of a general tax to pay the '^^^'^^^ 
enormous war debt of $42,000,000. In addition 
to this there were State debts amounting to $20,000,000. 
For the honor of the Republic, Congress implored the States 
in vain to pay these debts. So loosely were the States held 
together, and such was the general disorganization, that Great 
Britain had strong hopes of reestablishing her authority over 
what she called her "revolted colonies." So little attention 
was paid to Congress, so indifferent had the delegates them- 
selves become, that not infrequently that body was compelled 
to adjourn for want of a quorum. In fact, the government 
of the United States was fast falling into contempt at home 

HUNT. U. S. HIST. — 12 



178 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 



and abroad. Conventions were held in several of the States 
for the purpose of opposing Federal taxation; and in Massa- 
chusetts a number of people, under the leadership 
Shays s ^ Daniel Shays, arose in rebellion; but they were 

Rebellion. -^ ' • r 

quickly suppressed by the energetic measures of 
Governor Bowdoin. 

Adoption of the Federal Constitution. 

Finally, it became apparent to the most obtuse minds that 
if the United States was to endure as a separate and distinct 
nation, it could only do so under a stronger and 
Hamilton i^^ore centralized government than the Articles of 
Confederation. Alexander Hamilton, who had 
foreseen this necessity long before the present danger, pro- 
posed to call a national convention, to meet at Philadelphia, 

to consider the condition of the 
United States, ''to devise such 
further provision as shall ap- 
pear to them necessary to render 
the constitution of the Federal 
government adequate to the ex- 
igencies of the Union, and to 
report such an act for that pur- 
pose to the United States in 
Congress assembled, as, when 
agreed to by them, and after- 
wards confirmed by the legisla- 
ture of every State, will effectu- 
ally provide for the same." The 
convention met at Philadelphia, 
in May, 1787, and was presided over by George Washington, 
now a delegate from Virginia. Many of the old Revolution- 
ary leaders were present. There were also some new mem- 
bers of remarkable ability, destined hereafter to exercise great 
influence in shaping the government of the country. Among 
these were Alexander Hamilton and James Madison. 




Hamilton. 



ADOPTION OF THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. 1 79 

Gradually, as might be expected, the convention resolved 
itself into two distinct parties ; one favoring a strong cen- 
tralized government, and the other opposed to it. 
The latter desired that the State governments ^°'"'"a*»°" 

° of 

should possess larger powers. Under various parties, 
names of Federalist and Republican, of Whig and 
Democrat, and of Republican and Democrat, these parties 
have remained to this day the chief political opponents. 

The first resolution adopted by the convention was an outline 
of the future government: "Resolved that it is the opinion of 
this Committee that a national government ought to be estab- 
lished, consisting of a supreme Legislature, Judiciary, and 
Executive." The sessions of the convention were secret, and 
the debates were mainly on two questions — the power of the 
general government to coerce the States, and the representation 
in Congress to be proportioned to the population. Naturally 
the larger States favored, and the smaller States opposed, the 
latter of these two propositions; but the difficulty 
was overcome by the establishment of the upper ^^^^^ °^ 

•^ . . -^ -^ represen- 

house, or senate, in which every State would have tation. 
equal representation. The Southern States were 
satisfied to have three fifths of their slaves counted as a basis 
of population for representation in the lower house. 

On the 17th of September, 1787, the Constitution was 
adopted by Congress, and signed by all the members except 
three. The several States were then called upon to adopt it 
in their separate conventions. If nine of the thirteen States 
should adopt it, it would become the supreme law of the Re- 
public. During the winter of 1787 and 1788 the Constitution 
^vas eagerly discussed by the people. Its chief pro- 
moters became its ablest defenders. The States ^ ,. 

tution 

one after another accepted it; and in June, 1788, adopted, 
it was adopted by the necessary nine States. Vir- 
ginia and New York were slow in taking action; but finally 
they too accepted it. At a later day North Carolina and 
Rhode Island gave in their adhesion. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION (1789-1797). 

" The world heard : the battle of Lexington — one ; the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence — tivo ; the surrender of Burgoyne — three ; the siege of Yorktown — four ; 
the treaty of Paris — Jive ; the inauguration of Washington — six ; and then it 
was the sunrise of a new day, of which we have seen yet only the glorious forenoon." 



The first Congress under the new Constitution assembled 
in New York on the 4th of March, 1789, but for want of a quo- 
rum did not organize until the 30th of April. Under the 
clause providing for a chief executive, George Washington 
was unanimously chosen President and John Adams Vice 
President. In taking the oath of office Washington modestly 
expressed distrust of his qualifications for the exalted position 

to which he had been chosen, 
and prayed for Divine guid- 
ance in the performance of his 
arduous duties. 

The first duty of Congress 
was to provide ways and means 
to pay the debts incurred by 
the Confederation and by the 
several States, and to arrange 
for the support of the Federal 
government. Robert Morris, 
who had so nobly furnished 
money to pay the army at a 
critical period of the Revolu- 
tion, recommended Alexander 
Hamilton, a young man only 
thirty-one years old, for the important post of Secretary of the 
Treasury. When appointed, Hamilton proceeded at once to 

180 




Washington. 



THE N ATI OX A L BAXK. l8l 

carry out those financial measures which have made him 
famous. His active intellect conceived the means by which 
the young Republic could maintain her honor among the 
nations of the earth. 

He recommended that the public lands should be sold; that 
duties should be levied on the tonnage of vessels and on 
foreign merchandise imported into the United 
States: and that measures should be taken to ^^^ °.^^^ 

' financial 

collect the revenue. But the greatest difficulty measures, 
to contend with was the payment of the national 
and State debts, now amounting, with the arrears of interest, 
to the enormous sum, for that period, of $80,000,000. Ham- 
ilton's plan, which ultimately prevailed, was to fund the 
entire debt. This inspired confidence at home and abroad, 
because it proved that the new government was resolved to 
pay every dollar of debt incurred by the Confederation. 

These measures were not carried into effect without great 
opposition from the Anti-Federal party which contained a 
majority of the people; but they were so divided that they 
were rarely able to present a united front against Hamilton's 
determined policy. When the Secretary assumed his office 
there were only three banks in the United States ; one in Bos- 
ton, one in New York, and one in Philadelphia. 
Of course they were all State banks. After much ^stabiish- 
opposition he founded what w^as to all intents and national 
purposes a national bank, under private manage- bank, 
ment, with a capital stock of $10,000,000, which 
would serve the government, as it owned a fifth of the stock. 
Hamilton recommended a system of protection of American 
manufactures which was doubtless wise at the time; but he 
took care to exempt raw material from duty. 

Congress established two departments in addition to that of 
the Treasury; the department of State, to w^hich Thomas Jeffer- 
son was appointed, and the department of War (which included 
the navy), to which Henry Knox was appointed. These offi- 
cials were designated as Secretaries and formed the Presi- 



1 82 WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION. 

dent's council. The Judiciary was also established, with the 
distinguished John Jay as Chief Justice; Edmund Randolph 
of Virginia was appointed Attorney-general. The Federal 
government was now fully and completely organ- 
Cabinet i^ed, and so strongly constituted that it has been 
able ever since to encounter and overcome every 
shock, whether from within or without. It is the wisest and 
the best government ever established by the wisdom of man. 
In 1790 Congress passed a law fixing the seat of government 
at Philadelphia for ten years, and then removing it to its pres- 
ent site on the banks of the Potomac. 

One of the great difficulties that the convention had to meet 
in the formation of the Constitution was the existence of sla- 
very in the Republic. As previously mentioned, it was intro- 
duced by Great Britain in 1620 (the very year that 
Abolition of ^j^g Pilgrims landed at Plymouth) ; and slave labor 

the slave ^ J / ' 

trade. became, in time, the main support of the white 
population of the South. Congress agreed to 
abolish the slave trade in 1808; and it was thought that the 
question would then be forever at rest. But the invention of 
the cotton gin by Whitney in 1793 imparted a value to slave 
labor hitherto unknown. 

Under old land grants several States claimed ownership of 
the territory northwest of the Ohio River. In 1784 Congress 
appointed a committee, with Thomas Jefferson as chairman, to 
report a plan for its government. The report of the commit- 
tee recommended the prohibition of slavery, to date from 
the year 1800. But the Southern representatives temporarily 
defeated this part of the report. However, in 1787, the cele- 
brated Ordinance was passed devoting all the 
Northwest Nortliwcst Territory belonging to the United 
Territory §^^^£3 ^o freedom. From this vast region the 

devoted to • • t»t- i 

freedom, great free States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Mich- 
igan, and Wisconsin have been formed. The 
South permitted the exclusion of slavery because it was 
thought that the soil and climate were not suited to slave 



THE WHISKY REBELLION. 1 83 

labor. The inhabitants of this territory were for the most 
part immigrants who came from New England; and hence 
their State constitutions were mainly modeled after the plan 
of that of Massachusetts. 

In 1790 an Indian war broke out in the northwest; and, 
all attempts to restore peace proving futile, General Harmer 
was appointed to command an expedition for the purpose 
of reducing the savages to submission. He destroyed large 
quantities of corn and burned several villages, but 
was badly defeated in battle. In 1791 he was ^"'^'^^ ^a"" 
superseded by General St. Clair, governor of the northwest. 
Northwest Territory; but he, too, was surprised 
and defeated with great slaughter. The government then 
appointed Anthony Wayne, the distinguished general of the 
Revolution, to command a force of three thousand men for 
the complete subjugation of the Indians. He pursued the 
campaign with great caution, in order to avoid being sur- 
prised by his wily foe. He gave battle to the Indian tribes 
on the banks of the Maumee, gained a complete victory, 
routing the savages, destroying their power, and laying waste 
their country. A treaty was made, in 1795, by which the 
Indians ceded a large tract of land to the United States; and 
from that time forward the settlement of the West increased 
with great rapidity. • 

On the recommendation of Hamilton, Congress passed a 
bill, in 1 79 1, placing a duty on domestic distilled spirits. 
Its purpose was to raise money to pay the State debts. The 
Western and Southern members had fought in vain against 
its passage, on the ground that, owing to the cost of trans- 
portation, it would be difficult for people in these remote 
districts to procure imported spirits from the East. Besides, 
it would prevent the farmers from converting their 
surplus grain into whisky. Numerous meetings ^T^^ 
took place to denounce and oppose the law; and Rebellion. 
in Western Pennsylvania the people rose in rebel- 
lion, and assailed the revenue officers. Washington clearly 



I 84 WASHING TON 'S AD MINIS TRA TION. 

perceived that successful rebellion against one law of Con- 
gress might be the beginning of many more and might ulti- 
mately destroy the government. He therefore issued two 
proclamations against the rebels; and these proving ineffec- 
tual, he sent out a military force, which quickly reduced them 
to submission. 

Before New York would consent to the admission of Ver- 
mont into the Union, the latter was compelled to pay $30,000 
for the territory claimed by the former. Although a State 
government had existed since 1777, Vermont was not admitted 
until 1791- Kentucky had been settled chiefly by immigrants 
from Virginia under the leadership of Daniel Boone. During 
the Revolutionary War they suffered terribly from 
Admission the depredations and cruelties of the Indians in- 
of Vermont, ^-^^^ ^^^ Stimulated by the English. Having 

Kentucky, ... - . • i i r 

and Ten. adopted a coustitution in conformity with that 01 

nessee. the Federal government, Kentucky was admitted 

into the Union in 1792. Tennessee had been 

settled by immigrants from North Carolina. She was admitted 

in 1796. These two new States were, from the nature of their 

first settlement, slave States. 

Washington was reelected President in 1792 with John 
Adams as Vice President. At this period the great French 
Revolution was in progress; and thfe people of France natu- 
rally expected sympathy, if not support, from the 
as ing- -Qj^ji-g^ States in return for the assistance thev had 

ton s _ ^ 

reelection, given to America in her struggle against Great 
Britain. The French government was unfortunate 
in its selection of Edmond Charles Genet for minister to the 
United States. Early in 1793 he landed at Charleston, and, 
without even waiting to present his credentials to the admin- 
istration at Philadelphia, commenced at once to issue com- 
missions to privateers to prey on British commerce. 
.J^ Z ^^ He went so far as to order that the prizes should 

with France. ^ 

be tried and condemned by the French consuls in 
the United States. When opposed by the Federal officers. 



TROUBLES WITH GREAT BRITAIN. 1 85 

he threatened to appeal to the people against the govern- 
ment. He tried also to organize in the United States expe- 
ditions against Spanish settlements in Florida; and this, 
too, in spite of the President's proclamation of neutrality! 
He was so violent and insolent that Washington was com- 
pelled to request his recall. He was succeeded the fol- 
lowing year by M. Fauchet who was instructed to assure 
the United States government that France did not approve 
Genet's conduct. 

The Federals led by Hamilton and the Republicans by Jef- 
ferson, had grown into bitter political opponents. The for- 
mer inclined toward Great Britain; the latter sympathized 
with France. Jefferson had become thoroughly imbued with 
the doctrines of the encyclopedists and advocated the largest 
liberty for the people. He was strongly in favor of States' 
rights and opposed to the centralization of power in the 
general government. The Republican party — greatly in the 
majority but poorly united, complained that Great Britain 
had not carried out the terms of the treaty of Paris (1783); 
that she had failed to return or pay for the negro slaves 
carried off during the war; that she had made illegal seizures 
of American property at sea ; and that she had not surrendered 
the military posts on the Western frontier. 

In November, 1794, a British Order i?i Council, directing 
English men-of-war to seize as prizes any vessels found carry- 
ing produce from, or supplies to, a French colony, simply 
added fuel to the flame, and filled the American people with 
indignation. Congress immediately passed retaliatory meas- 
ures. There was danger that war would break out 
between the two nations. Washins^ton, ever calm '^'■°"^'^s 

^ . with Great 

amid the storm, always wise and prudent for his Britain, 
country, in order to prevent so great a calamity, 
sent John Jay as envoy extraordinary to England to negotiate 
a treaty of amity and commerce. The main points of this 
treaty were : The British would withdraw their garrisons from 
the Western posts; inland navigation should be free to both 



1 86 WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION, 

nations (except that the United States should be excluded 
from the territory of the Hudson Bay Company) ; The Mis- 
sissippi should be open to both nations; a commission should 
determine what was meant by the St. Croix River, and fix the 
northeastern boundary. The treaty was ratified by the Senate 
in 1795, and went into operation in 1796. 

It had been a long-established custom for the European 

nations to pay a disgraceful tribute to the Dey of Algiers, to 

save their commerce from the cruel pirates that 

Tribute to infested the Mediterranean. As the United States 

f, .^^ ° had not conformed to this odious custom, the Dey 

Algiers. •' 

held a considerable number of American seamen 
as slaves, and treated them with barbarous cruelty. In 1796 
a treaty was made with Algiers by which these seamen were 
redeemed; but America was compelled to agree to pay an 
annual tribute. 

As Washington's second term drew to a close, he made 
known his desire to retire to private life. He declined to 
serve a third term. His farewell address to the American 
people is a lofty political production, warning them of future 
dangers, and advising them to "seek noble ends by noble 
means." 

The Federalists and Republicans put forth great efforts in 
the election of Washington's successor. The for- 

Eiection ^^^ i^zx^^ French, and the latter English, influ- 
^""^ ence. The Federalists triumphed, and elected 
John Adams of Massachusetts. Thomas Jefferson was chosen 
Vice President. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

JOHN ADAMS'S ADMINISTRATION (1797-1801). 

" Washington effected much in the field ; but where were the FrankUns, the 
Adamses, the Jeffersons and the Lees — the band of sages and patriots whose mem- 
ory we revere ? " 



The administration of John Adams was disturbed from its 
beginning to its close. It was distinguished for the strenuous 
efforts it made to preserve 
peace with the two leading 
powers of Europe then engaged 
in a deadly struggle. The 
French government had fallen 
into the hands of the Direc- 
tory, under whose administra- 
tion the Republican, generals 
had gained great victories over 
the allied armies of nearly all 
Europe. Inflated with these 
successes, the French ministers 
who succeeded M. Genet were 
constantly urging the United 
States government to adopt 
measures favorable to France. 

They were supported by Thomas Jefferson and the main body 
of the Republican party. Political animosity was, at this time, 
exceedingly bitter. Able men, mostly of foreign birth, had 
control of the press, and abused and lampooned the govern- 
ment most unmercifully. 

To counteract the influence of this class, the administra- 
tion unwisely passed the Alien Laws. These laws were cer- 
tainly not in accordance with the oft-repeated statement that 

187 




John Adams. 



I 88 JOHiV ADAMS'S ADMIiXISTRATION. 

"America was the home of the oppressed of all nations." 
There were five laws which made the Republican or Demo- 
cratic party very indignant. First, they extended 

Alien Laws. , ^ ^^ . ^ ^ . /. . 

the term of residence prior to naturalization to 
fourteen years; second, they empowered the President to send 
out of the country such aliens as he thought dangerous to the 
welfare of the United States; third, they gave him the right 
to grant licenses to aliens to remain in the country during 
his pleasure; fourth, he miglit demand a bond for their good 
behavior; and fifth, masters of vessels who brought aliens 
into the United States might be fined for failure to report 
them. 

The Sedition Law made it a penal offense to defame Con- 
gress or the President; to excite the hatred of the people 
against them; to excite sedition in the United States; to 
raise unlawful combinations for resisting the laws; or to give 

aid to foreign nations against the United States. 

The Alien and Sedition Laws went together, and 

Law. ^ 

together they were denounced. They became the 
rallying cry of the Democratic party; and there is no doubt 
that they led to the complete overthrow of the Federalists and 
gave their political antagonists possession of the national gov- 
ernment for a period of twenty-four years. 

England and France continued their deadly war, the former 
to restore the Bourbon king, and the latter to preserve a 
democratic government. As a rule, the French were victorious 
by land and the English by sea. Owing to the blockade of so 
many European ports, American merchants and ship owners had 
become wealthy by means of the carrying trade. Her vessels 
were at liberty to carry merchandise for any of the belligerents, 
not, however, without some trouble and annoyance. 

England, in order to maintain her supremacy on the ocean, 
was compelled to recruit her navy by the barbarous method 
of impressment; that is, of seizing peaceful seamen wherever 
found, and forcing them to serve in her navy. In chasing 
up deserters, she never scrupled to overhaul and search 



TROUBLES WITH FRANCE. 1 89 

American merchantmen, and seize not only her own subjects, 
but native-born Americans. The United States submitted to 
these insults rather than engage in a war for which 
she was but poorly prepared. France, too, exas- Searching 
perated at the failure of the United States to aid ^"^^"'^^^ 

\ . ^ vessels. 

her ni her struggle for the establishment of Re- 
publican governin^t, seized a great number of American 
merchant vessels, and held them as prizes. She also refused 
to receive Mr. Pinckney, the envoy from the United States. 

The President and Congress tried every means, but in vain, 
to pacify the French Directory. Pinckney, Marshall, and Gerry 
were commissioned to renew negotiations with France. On 
their arrival in that country they were privately informed by 
'' non-official " persons, that if they paid bribes they would 
be received and treated with due respect; but when 
received they were expected to advocate an Ameri- ^.^^ 
can loan to help the Directory carry on its wars France, 
with other nations. When the envoys rejected 
these disgraceful proposals, they were all ordered to leave 
the country, except Mr. Gerry, who was a friend of Jefferson. 

When the news of the treatment received by the envoys 
reached the people, their indignation was justly aroused. 
Congress immediately ordered an increase of the army and 
authorized citizens to convert their vessels into men-of-war 
and privateers. In fact war already ejcisted on the sea. In 
the West Indies the American ships Delaware and Constella- 
tion captured a French privateer and a frigate. 

Fortunately, however, for both countries. Napoleon Bona- 
parte overturned the weak and worthless Directory, and brought 
practical statesmanship to bear to save France from 
ruin. The First Consul immediately entered into ^ , 

-' averted. 

negotiations with the new envoys sent out by the 
President; and one of Napoleon's first acts was to pro- 
hibit French cruisers from interfering with or annoying 
American merchantmen. This put an end to all apprehen- 
sions of war. 



190 JOHiV ADAMS'S ADMINISTRATION, 

On Dec. 14, 1799, George Washington died at Mount Ver- 
non. With his death all the bitter abuse he had received as 
the head of the Federal party ceased. The whole 
^^. ° country went into mourning. In an eloquent ora- 
tion in Congress, General Lee used these memor- 
able words, which are the best eulogy ever uttered concerning 
the hero, " Washington was first in war, firsUin peace, and first 
in the hearts of his countrymen." 

During the summer of 1800 the Federal government was re- 
moved from Philadelphia to Washington. Virginia and Mary- 
land had each ceded a portion of territory to form the District 
of Columbia which was to contain the Federal capital, and 
be governed by the Federal Congress. 

In the election of 1800 the Federalists presented the names 
of Adams and Pinckney, and the Republicans those of Jeffer- 
son and Burr, for the ofhces of President and Vice 
e ea o e pj-ggj^^gj^^^ The Federal party was defeated, owinsj 

Federalists. r ^ ■> -o 

chiefly to the unpopular Alien and Sedition Laws. 
The great majority of the people thought that these laws were 
opposed to personal liberty and freedom of speech. 

Each State was entitled by the Constitution to as many votes 

as it had representatives in both houses of Congress ; and each 

elector had the right to vote for two candidates. 

tie vote or jgffgj-gQj^ ^^^ ^wxx had each an equal number of 

President. -' , ^ 

votes; and the Federalists, who hated the former, 
managed to continue the tie, thus throwing the election into 
the House of Representatives where there was a second tie 
vote. There was danger that the 4th of March would find the 

country without a President. Finally, after thirty- 
Election of ^^^ ballots, some of the Federalists, overcoming 

Jefferson . 

their prejudices, voted blank, and by this means 
allowed the Republicans to elect Thomas Jefferson as Pres- 
ident and Aaron Burr as Vice President. Future danger from 
this source was prevented by a change in the Constitution. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRATION (1801-1809). 

" With grave 
Aspect he rose, and in his rising seemed 
A pillar of state ; deep on his front engraven 
Deliberation sat and public care." 

Thomas Jefferson, the writer of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, entertained a strong feeling of affection for France, 
partly on account of the moral 
and material aid furnished by 
the French during the Revo- 
lutionary struggle, and partly 
because his theories of govern- 
ment were mainly formed, as 
previously stated, by the writ- 
ings of the celebrated ency- 
clopedists. The Federalists 
differed widely from him in 
political opinion; but they 
were forced to recognize his 
commanding ability as a popu- 
lar leader. Like many another 
radical out of office, he became 
quite conservative in office 
when he felt the responsibility for good government resting 
on his shoulders. His long-standing friendship for France 
became, at this time, highly important to the United States. 

The free navigation of the Mississippi, and access to the port 
of New Orleans, were found to be indispensable to the devel- 
opment of the West. It was almost impossible, and certainly 
unprofitable, to transport the products of the new Western States 
across the Alleghany Mountains. Spain had recently ceded 

191 




Jefferson. 



1 92 JEFFERSOX 'S ADMIXISTRA TION. 

to France a territory much larger than the original thirteen 
States. Napoleon, under the title of First Consul, was the 
ruler of the French people, and possessed absolute power. 

Jefferson was determined to purchase the Isle of Orleans 
and a free passage to the sea. With this end in view, he 
directed the United States commissioners to offer the French 
government $2,500,000. But they were very much astonished 
when Bonaparte offered to sell all the vast territory 
Purchase of ^^^^^^ Northern Florida to the Rocky Mountains for 

Louisiana. 

$20,000,000. After some haggling the bargain was 
concluded, the United States agreeing to pay $15,000,000. 
Napoleon, knowing that the moment the French and English 
went to war the navy of the latter would immediately seize 
the territory, was as anxious to sell as America was to buy. 
How much this purchase conduced to make a great, prosperous, 
and powerful nation, a glance at the map of the United States 
will clearly reveal to the dullest comprehension. 

As previously stated, the United States had made a treaty 
with Algiers, by which it was agreed to pay $40,000 for the 
release of thirteen American seamen who were held as slaves, 
and also an annual tribute of $25,000 to save the commerce of 
the United States from piracy. Delay in the payment caused 

the Dey of Algiers to declare war against the 
Trouble United Statcs. Of course there could be little 
Algiers. °^ ^o fighting by land. But the fighting by sea 

was often desperate and brilliant, and American 
officers and seamen evinced great skill and valor. It was in 
this rough school that they learned how to defeat the English 
at sea a few years later. 

In 1803 Commodore Preble was in command of the Mediter- 
ranean squadron. With four vessels of his fleet he entered 
the harbor of Tangier, and demanded satisfaction from the 
Emperor of Morocco for the act of his governor in fitting out 
a cruiser to prey on American commerce. The emperor dis- 
avowed the act, and the treaty between the United States and 
Morocco was renewed. 



H^A/^ WITH TRIPOLI. 1 93 

The Philadelphia^ in chasing a blockade-runner, struck upon 
a rock in the harbor of Tripoli, and was abandoned by Captain 
Bainbridge. In order to prevent so valuable a prize from 
remaining in the hands of the enemy. Lieutenant Decatur, 
in a small vessel named the Intrepid^ boarded the Philadel- 
phia^ surprised the Tripolitan crew and either slew or cast 
them into the sea. The frigate was then set on lire, and the 
daring Decatur returned in safety to the squadron. There 
were a great many sea fights; and though the Americans were 
generally victorious, the results were not decisive. Although 
Tripoli was frequently bombarded, it was not taken. Its ruler 
was a usurper. He had deposed his elder brother, 
Hamet, and driven him into exile. Mr. Eaton, ^^.^\. 

' ' Tripoli. 

who was United States consul at Tunis, entered 
into an alliance with the deposed sovereign; and collecting a 
small force, consisting of seventy American seamen, the fol- 
lowers of Hamet, and a few Egyptian soldiers, he commenced 
a long and difficult march of a thousand miles through a desert 
country from Alexandria to Tripoli. He captured Derne, a 
Tripolitan city, by assault; he fought two successful battles 
and compelled the Bashaw to sue for peace. The conditions 
being satisfactory to the Americans, a treaty was concluded. 
One of the terms was the abolition of tribute money. Hamet, 
however, was not restored to his sovereignty. 

In 1803 Ohio was admitted into the Union as a free State. 
The first settlement was begun in 1788 at Marietta, under 
Rufus Putnam. Owing to constant wars with the 
Indians, its growth was slow. But after their defeat of Ohio 
by General Wayne, the population rapidly increased 
by emigration from Europe, and more particularly from New 
England. 

Aaron Burr, the Vice President, had lost his popularity with 
the Republican party on account of his intense selfishness. 
In order to retrieve his political fortunes, he made an effort 
to have himself elected Governor of New York. To be suc- 
cessful he needed the assistance of the Federalists. Hamil- 

HUNT. U.S. HIST. — 13 



194 JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRATION. 

ton, knowing Burr to be utterly unscrupulous, bitterly opposed 
him. This opposition led to an angry dispute. Burr chal- 
lenged Hamilton to fight a duel. The latter un- 
Duei wisely and unfortunately accepted the challenge 
between ^^^ ^^^ mortally wounded. The whole country 

Hamilton •' ^ 

and Burr, dcplorcd the death of the great financier and true 

patriot. 
At the close of this year, 1804, Jefferson was reelected Pres- 
ident, and George Clinton of New York Vice President. 

Burr finding himself very unpopular, engaged, in 1806, in a 

treasonable conspiracy to detach the territory west of the AUe- 

ghanies from the United States and erect it into a separate 

nation with its capital at New Orleans. Failing in this, he 

had a second design. He would invade Mexico, 

and establish an empire. By his powers of cun- 

treason. ^ -' ^ 

ning and intrigue he was able to seduce many 
well-meaning men to espouse his cause. But the majority 
of the people living in these wild regions remained loyal to 
the United States. Burr's means were totally inadequate to 
accomplish his ambitious ends. He was arrested and tried 
at Richmond for treason, but was acquitted, partly for lack 
of evidence, and partly because the acts of treason were 
committed outside the State of Virginia. 

The rapid rise of Napoleon, his wonderful victories, and his 
conquest of the greater part of Europe, astonished the world ; 
but if master by land, his unrelenting enemy, England, was 
mistress by sea. In this condition of things, American com- 
merce reaped a rich harvest. American vessels did most of 
the carrying trade. And had all Europe remained at war much 
longer, American merchants would have become the richest in 
the world. But in May, 1806, the British government, in the 
most arbitrary manner, issued an 07'der in Council^ declaring 
the ports between Brest and the Elbe to be in a state of 
blockade. Hence, if any American vessel should be found 
trading with any of these ports, she was liable to seizure and 
condemnation. 



PREPARATION FOR WAR. 1 95 

In retaliation, Napoleon issued the Berlin Decree, declaring 
the British Islands in a state of blockade, and prohibiting 
all intercourse with them. The British government, by another 
Order in Coimcil, prohibited all coasting trade with France. 

While these high-handed measures were destroy- 
ing the foreign commerce of the United States, an ^^^^ 
event occurred which aroused the anger and indig- 
nation of the American people. This was an unprovoked 
attack on the American frigate Chesapeake by the British frigate 
Leopard, because Captain Barrow of the former refused to sur- 
render several seamen deserters from the English navy. The 
Chesapeake was disabled by an unexpected fire from 
the Leopard; and while in this condition the British Seizure of 

, , . . ^ , , American 

seized the seamen in question, two of whom proved seamen 
to be American citizens. This outrage compelled 
the President to order all British vessels to leave American 
waters, and to forbid them to enter until the English govern- 
ment had rendered satisfaction. Mr. Monroe, the minister at 
the court of St. James, was instructed to demand reparation 
and security against future impressment from American ves- 
sels. Canning, the British minister, was willing to negotiate 
about the particular attack on the Chesapeake, but refused to 
conjoin with it the general matter of impressment. 

Congress was summoned to meet on the 27th of October. 
In his message, the President informed that body that he had 
declined to sign a treaty negotiated by Monroe and Pinckney 
with the English government, because it made no provision 
against impressment. He described the outrage on the Chesa- 
peake, and spoke of his proclamation forbidding British vessels 
to enter American waters. In the meantime. Congress set to 
work to put the country in a state of defense. 
An act was passed appropriating nearly $3,000,000 Congress 
to arm and equip one hundred thousand militia, ^^^ ^g^. 
for building one hundred and eighty-eight gun- 
boats, for constructing, repairing, and completing the forti- 
fications, and for increasing the regular army by nearly 



196 JEFFEI^SO.y'S ADMINISTRATION. 

seven thousand men. Congress also passed an act laying an 
embargo on all vessels within the jurisdiction of the United 
States. 

On the nth of November, 1807, England issued her third 
Order m Council, declaring all nations at war with Great 
Britain — all places from which the British flag was excluded — ■ 
to be in a state of blockade. Napoleon retaliated with his Mi- 
lan Decree, issued on the 17th of December, 1807, by which he 
declared every vessel denationalized that submitted to search 
by a British ship, and every vessel a good prize that sailed to 
or from Great Britain or any of her colonies. 

Negotiations were carried on between the American govern- 
ment and Mr. Rose, the English envoy, but without result, as 
neither side would yield. The embargo, having failed of its 
purpose, was repealed. Congress then passed an act forbidding 
trade or intercourse with France and England. 

Jefferson's second term expired on the 3d of March, 1809; 
but following Washington's example, he declined 

ec ion o ^^ serve a third term, and was succeeded by James 

Madison. ■' 

Madison of Virginia, wath George Clinton of New 
York as Vice President. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION (1809-1817). 

" Take heed 
How you awake our sleeping sword of war ; 
We charge you in the name of God take heed." 



Before his election to the presidency, Madison had held 
several Federal positions, the most important being that of 
Secretary of State under Jef- 
ferson. He had taken a lead 
ing part in the construction of 
the Constitution. His mind, 
if not brilliant, was calm and 
judicial. Perceiving that the 
United States was not pre- 
pared for war and . fearful of 
its results, he did all in his 
power to maintain peace. Eng- 
land was "mistress of the 
seas," her navy the most pow 
erful in the world. Jefferson 
had been opposed to the in- 
crease of the American navy 
and to the maintenance of a 

large standing army. Madison was his disciple; but a new 
and a younger element had entered Congress which the Presi- 
dent was unable to control, and which became imperative in its 
demands for satisfaction from Great Britain. 

The British minister sent Mr. Erskine to the United States 
to adjust the difhculties between the two countries. As the 
Non-intercourse Act had placed France and England on an 
equality, the British government, under a liberal administra- 

197 




Madison. 



198 MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION. 

tion, was ready to enter into negotiations with the United 

States. Mr. Erskine felt himself authorized to declare that 

the Order's in Council^ the source of all the trouble, 

Proposed ^ould be withdrawn, as regards America, on the 

settlement of , r t r. t • 1 • 

difficulties. ^°^^ °^ June, 1809, if Commercial intercourse was 

reestablished. The President, on the strength of 
this declaration, issued a proclamation removing all obstacles 
to free intercourse between the two nations. This was fol- 
lowed by general rejoicing, especially in New England and 
New York, whose commerce for several years had been very 
much crippled. 

However, in the meantime, the Tories, the bitter enemies 
of America, had come into power; and one of their first acts 

was to declare that Mr. Erskine had exceeded his 
iwf^Erski'L authority, and they refused to ratify his acts. 

Then Madison issued another proclamation renew- 
ing non-intercourse with Great Britain. Mr. Erskine was 
recalled, and Mr. Jackson, who had insulted the President, 
succeeded him. The American government refused to have 
anything to do with him, but no envoy was appointed in his 
place; and thus the two nations were allowed to drift into 
war. Various friendly propositions were offered by Napoleon, 
always with the proviso that England withdrew the Orders i?i 
Council ; but England, adhering to her arbitrary measures, no 
benefit accrued to the United States. 

While these strained relations existed between the two 

countries an engagement occurred between the 
Ltti B sloop of war Little Belt, commanded by Captain 

Bingham, and the United States frigate President, 
commanded by Commodore Rogers, which tended to precipi- 
tate the war. Commodore Rogers, finding the Little Belt on 
American waters, hailed her, and for reply the Preside?it was 
fired at. The American answered with a broadside which 
killed eleven and wounded twenty-one men on board the Brit- 
ish vessel. As the English captain was the aggressor, a court 
of inquiry sustained the conduct of Captain Rogers. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

THE WAR OF 1812. 

" War, war is still the cry — 
' War even to the knife.' " 

Events of 1812. 

Tecumseh, an Indian chief of considerable ability, assisted 
by his brother, the "prophet," and urged on by British agents, 
roused the Indians on the northwestern frontier to wage war 
against American settlers for the recovery of lands of which 
they had been dispossessed. General Harrison, the governor 
of the Indiana Territory, found it necessary to establish a mili- 
tary post at Terre Haute, on the upper waters of 
the Wabash. An attempt at negotiation having ^. 
failed, Harrison, at the head of two thousand men, 
marched against the Indian town on the Tippecanoe. Here 
he was desperately assailed before daylight on the morning of 
the 7th of November, 181 1 ; and, notwithstanding the darkness 
and the fury of the assault, the savages were repulsed. The 
next day the Indian town was taken and destroyed. 

On the 29th of November, 181 1, the President called Con- 
gress together, and, in his message to that body, declared that 
hostilities with Great Britain were imminent. He advised 
them to put the country in a state of defense. In conformity 
with this advice, Congress passed several bills. In April, 
18 1 2, an act was passed laying an embargo for 
ninety days on all vessels within the jurisdiction Declaration 
of the United States. On the 4th of June, a bill ° ^^''^^ 

^ ■' ' Great 

was passed by the House of Representatives de- Britain, 
daring war against Great Britain. It passed the 
Senate on the 17th, and on the i8th it received the President's 
signature. The Committee on Foreign Relations in their 

199 



200 THE WAR OF 1812. 

report assigned the following reasons for an appeal to arms : 
the impressment of American seamen by Great Britain; the 
blockade of the ports of England's enemies, thereby plunder- 
ing American commerce on every sea, and cutting off Ameri- 
can productions from their legitimate markets; and finally, 
the Orders in Coimcil. 

Congress passed an act to add twenty-five thousand men to 
the regular army, which was very small; it also passed another 
act authorizing the President to accept the services of fifty 
thousand volunteers, and to call out one hundred thousand 
militia for the defense of the coast and the frontiers. But 
armies without generals are almost useless. The great com- 
manders of the Revolutionary period were dead. The sur- 
vivors were old men without force or activity. One of these, 
Henry Dearborn of Massachusetts, was appointed commander 
in chief; and another, still more feeble, to say the least, 
General Hull, was governor of Michigan Territory when war 
was declared. The latter, at the head of two thousand men, 
marched from Ohio to Detroit, for the purpose of putting an 
end to Indian hostilities on the northwestern frontier. 

Hull crossed the Detroit River with the intention of taking 
Fort Maiden. The enemy, in the meantime, surprised and 
captured Fort Mackinaw. Major Van Horn, who had been 
sent with a detachment to guard a supply train, was defeated 
at Brownstown by a force of British and Indians. General 
Hull, who had remained inactive on the Canada 
Hull s sur- ^.^^ ^^^ nearly a month, suddenly recrossed the 

render. ■' •' 

river, on the night of August yth, and occupied 
Detroit. He detached Colonel Miller, with several hundred 
men, to accomplish the purpose in which Van Horn had 
failed. Miller encountered and defeated a large force of 
British and Indians, under the command of the celebrated 
chief Tecumseh. 

General Brock, the English commanoer, crossed the river 
on the 1 6th of August, a few miles above Detroit, with a 
small force of regulars and savages, and marched against the 



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EVENTS OF 1812. 201 

American works. He demanded the surrender of the town. 
Hull was strongly posted and his arrangements for a defense 
were excellent. The Americans were awaiting the order to 
fire on the enemy, when, to their extreme mortification, the 
white flag of submission was suspended from the walls. This 
disgraceful surrender created a feeling of deep indignation 
throughout the country. General Hull was tried by court-mar- 
tial and sentenced to be shot; but on account of his age and 
previous services he was pardoned by the President. His 
name, however, was stricken from the rolls of the army. 

In the fall of 1812 the American army was composed of 
three divisions: that of the northwest, under General Harri- 
son; that of the center at Lewistown on the Niagara River, 
under General Stephen Van Rensselaer; and that of the north 
at Plattsburg, under General Dearborn. A detachment of a 
thousand men, under Colonel Solomon Van Rensselaer, crossed 
the Niagara on Oct. 13, and drove the enemy from 
Queenstown Heights. But the British being reen- battle of 
forced by General Brock with six hundred regulars. Heights, 
the Americans were compelled to retreat to the 
river, where, being also reenforced, they charged the enemy 
and drove them in confusion from the Heights. 

In an effort to recover lost ground. General Brock was mor- 
tally wounded. As the American troops on the Canada side 
were not supported by a considerable force, which refused 
to cross the river, they were compelled to surrender and lose 
what might have been a splendid victor3^ The excuse was 
that they enlisted not to invade another country, but to defend 
their own; and, strange as it may seem, their conduct was 
vigorously defended by many of the Federalists who were 
opposed to the war. 

Although the invasion of Canada resulted in failure and 
disaster, owing mainly to the inefficiency of the superior 
officers, the series of brilliant victories on the ocean was 
an ample compensation. For the first time — at least since 
the day when Van Tromp swept the Channel with a broom 



202 



THE WAR OF 1812. 



at his masthead — England was defeated on her chosen ele- 
ment. Her blood-red flag fell beneath the stars and stripes 
of a young nation. 

The first blow she received was the capture of one of her 

frigates, the Guerriere, commanded by Captain Dacres. In 

an action of thirty minutes the American frigate 

Capture Constitution, commanded by Captain Isaac Hull, so 

Guerriere. riddled the British frigate that she was compelled 

to surrender. The next day she was set on fire 

and destroyed. The Americans lost fourteen men ; the British 

seventy-nine. The Constitution 'j- guns were a trifle superior to 



xr^-' 




those of the enemy; but the victory was gained by superior 
handling and better seamanship. So elated was the country 
with this victory, that Congress voted a gold medal for Cap- 
tain Hull, and $50,000 for his officers and seamen. 

One of the most desperate actions on record took place 
between the American sloop of war Wasp, commanded by Cap- 
tain Jones, and the British brig Frolic, commanded by Captain 
Whinyates. At the time of the engagement the sea was very 
rough. The English fired as their vessel rose, and conse- 



EVENTS OF 18 IS. 



203 



quently the shot went either harmlessly over the Wasp, or 
struck her spars and rigging. The Americans, on the con- 
trary, fired as their vessel fell, and hence inflicted 
great injury on the enemy. So terrible was the ^^p*"""^"^ 

•' the Frolic. 

damage, that when the Americans boarded the 

Frolic they found but the man at the wheel and three officers, 

who immediately surrendered. Both vessels, however, were 

captured the same day by the Poictiers, a British seventy-four 

gunship. 

On the 25th of October, the American frigate United States, 
of forty-four guns, commanded by Commodore Stephen Deca- 
tur, after an action of nearly two hours, captured 
the frigate Maeedo?iia;i, of forty-nine guns, off the Capture of 
Western Isles. The British loss M^as one hundred , . 

donian. 

and four men, that of the Americans but twelve. 

So little was the United States injured, that a return to port 

was unnecessary. 

Toward the end of December the Constitution, commanded 
by Commodore Bainbridge, gained a complete vic- 
tory over the British frigate Jai'a, whose captain thCifava 
was mortally wounded in the action. The Jai'a 
was so severely shattered that the Americans were compelled 
to burn her. 

Besides the brilliant actions of the American navy, many 
American privateers rendered the country excellent service 
by preying on British commerce. These fast-sail- 
ing vessels not only attacked merchantmen, but "^^"can 

, •' privateers. 

sometimes even the armed cruisers of the enemy. 
Three hundred merchant vessels and three thousand pris- 
oners were brought into American ports within a period of 
six months. 

Events of 1813. 

General Harrison, the governor of the Northwest Territory, 
was resolved to recover, if possible, Detroit and Maiden. 
His army had been largely recruited during the winter by 
young men from Kentucky. The advance column under Gen- 



204 ^-^^ ^^^^ ^^' ^^^^^ 

eral Winchester, was attacked by fifteen hundred British 
and Indians under General Proctor, at Frenchtown on the 

river Raisin ; and although outnumbered two to one 
^" !* ° by the enemy, the Americans fought with great 

courage until the order came from Winchester to 
surrender. The American general had been taken prisoner, 
and, fearing the bloodthirsty Indians, he obtained a promise 
from Proctor to protect all who surrendered. The British 
general treacherously violated his word of honor, and inhu- 
manly allowed the unarmed Americans to be tomahawked, 
scalped, and even tortured by the cruel savages. 

General Harrison, hearing of the defeat and capture of the 
force under Winchester, constructed a fort at the rapids of the 
Maumee, which he named Fort Meigs. Proctor demanded its 
surrender, which Harrison refused. The British general tried 
to frighten the Americans with his usual threat of letting loose 
his savage Indian allies in case he succeeded in capturing the 
fort by force of arms. Harrison, in the meantime, hurried 
forward reenforcements under General Clay, who vigorously 
attacked the enemy, spiked some of their guns, and com- 
pelled them to raise the siege. 

Shortly after this Proctor and the Indian chief Tecumseh, 
now raised to the rank of a brigadier general, at the head of 

five thousand British and savages, attacked Fort 
. Stephenson, commanded by Major Croghan, a 

Croghan. young Kcntuckian only twenty-one years old. He 

had only one hundred and sixty men and one gun 
with which to hold at bay a force so vastly superior. But 
right nobly did he do his duty. When summoned to surren- 
der, under threat of massacre, he boldly replied that when the 
fort should be taken there would be none left to be killed. 
The enemy attacked him simultaneously on two sides. Cro- 
ghan charged his single gun to the muzzle, and masked it. 
He then waited until the British had leaped into the north 
ditch. At the right moment the discharge from the gun killed 
almost every man of the assailants. The second attacking 



Victory of 



EVENTS OF 1813. 20 5 

column met a similar fate; after which, a severe volley of 
musketry from the fort caused the enemy to retreat in confu- 
sion. Proctor was badly defeated, and compelled to abandon 
the siege. 

On the 4th of March, 1813, Madison entered on his second 
term. He had been reelected by a large majority 

T-A -ITT- ^>n . r TVT T^ 1 ^, ^,1- Madison's 

over Dewitt Clinton of New York. George Chn- , ^ 

o second term. 

ton was again chosen Vice President, but he died 
shortly afterwards and was succeeded by Elbridge Gerry. 

It became evident to both the belligerents that the com- 
mand of Lakes Erie and Ontario was necessary to success. 
If either side should gain control on these waters, incalculable 
injury could be inflicted on the other. Hence, in the begin- 
ning of 18 13 preparations were made by both nations to secure 
possession of the Great Lakes. In April, General Dearborn 
determined to attack York (now Toronto), for the purpose of 
securing the stores there collected. General Pike commanded 
the land forces, and Commodore Chauncey the naval. On the 
27th, the Americans landed within two miles of the town. 
The British, under General Sheaffe, made an attempt to 
oppose them; but they were driven back in confusion behind 
their fortifications. In pursuing the enemy, and when within 
a short distance of the garrison, a magazine prepared for the 
purpose exploded, and killed or wounded two hundred Ameri- 
cans, among whom was General Pike who was fatally injured. 
But notwithstanding this disaster, York, the capital 
of Upper Canada, was captured, and with it a large ^Yo"k^ ° 
quantity of military stores. The Americans held 
the town for four days, burned the government buildings, and 
then returned to Sacketts Harbor. 

During the spring and summer the war was carried on with 
varying and unsatisfactory results. An unsuccess- 
ful attack was made on Sacketts Harbor by Gen- ^^"^ °" *^^ 

. Canadian 

eral Prevost ; an attack by the British on Fort border. 
George proved a failure ; and, on the whole, the 
campaign under the aged General Dearborn was inglorious. 



206 



THE WAR OF 1812. 



With great energy Captain Perry manned and equipped a 
squadron of nine vessels, carrying fifty-four guns, and set sail 
in search of a British squadron consisting of six vessels, 
mounting sixty-three guns. On the loth of September the 
two fleets met at Put-in-Bay, at the western extremity of Lake 
Erie, where a furious action took place, in which Perry was 
completely victorious. 

In the beginning of the battle Perry's flagship, the Law- 
rence., unsupported, owing to light winds which prevented the 
other vessels from coming to his assistance, was attacked 
at the same time by two ships of the enemy. But notwith- 
standing the fearful odds, the heroic Perry fought 

Perry's ^^^ ^^^^ hours. Until Only four or five of his crew 

Lake EriT. remained fit for duty, and until the Lawrence was 

so disabled as to be utterly unmanageable. In this 

desperate condition, amid the fire of the enemy, he left the 

wreck in an open boat, and reached one of his vessels, the 




Perry on Lake Erie. 



Niagara, in safety. In reporting his glorious victory to Gen- 
eral Harrison, he used the memorable words, " We have met 
the enemy, and they are ours." 



EVENTS OF 1813. 207 

Perry's splendid victory opened the way for General Har- 
rison to recover Detroit and Maiden. He sent Colonel 
Richard M. Johnson by land against the former, while he 
himself embarked on board the fleet to attack the latter. 
When Harrison arrived he found that Proctor had destroyed 
Maiden and withdrawn his force, with the intention of re- 
treating to Niagara. Being hotly pursued by the Americans, 
he made a stand about forty miles up the Thames River. 
Here the British regulars were routed, and fled from the 
field in confusion. The Indians, however, under 
Tecumseh, fought with undaunted bravery until the ,, 1. ^ ° 

' o J the Thames. 

death of their great chief. Then losing all hope, 
they too fled from the field; and Harrison gained a complete 
victory, which gave the Americans all the territory lost by 
Hull's surrender. 

General Wilkinson, another incompetent soldier, was called 
from the Department of the South to command the army of 
the North. His purpose was to invade Canada once more, 
and capture Montreal. The American force, not including 
Harrison's little army, amounted to twelve thousand men, 
eight thousand stationed at Niagara, and four thousand at 
Plattsburg, under General Hampton. The plan adopted was 
to descend the St. Lawrence, passing the British forts above, 
and form a junction with Hampton at a point agreed upon. 
But disaster everywhere attended the expedition. The 
weather was unfavorable. Some of the vessels 
were driven ashore, and others sunk. At Wil- failure to 
liamsburg an indecisive battle took place. A Montreal, 
council of war was held, at which an aban- 
donment of the project was recommended. Wilkinson then 
ordered a retreat, and the army went into winter quarters. 

The want of energy and enterprise on the part of Wilkin- 
son and Hampton left the British commander free to do what 
he pleased. General Drummond turned his attention to the 
military on or near the Niagara River. He appeared before 
Fort George, whose garrison fled to Fort Niagara without a 



208 THE WAR OF 1812. 

Struggle. In their flight they wantonly set fire to the village 
of Newark. A few days later Fort Niagara was captured by 

the enemy, and the garrison were put to the sword, 
towns ^^^^ British destroyed Youngstown, Lewiston, Man- 
chester, Tuscarora, Black Rock, and Buffalo. 
In the second year of the war the Americans were not as 
successful as in 1812. Although victories and defeats were 

nearly evenly divided, yet, on the whole, the ad- 
Capture of vantage was with the United States. In addition 

to Perry's splendid victory, already mentioned, 
and Boxer, the American sloop of war Hornet captured the 

British brig Peacock ; and the brig Eiitei-prise cap- 
tured the British brig Boxer off the coast of Maine. In this 
action both commanders were killed, and buried side by side. 
On the other hand. Captain Lawrence, who had been pro- 
moted to the command of the frigate Chesapeake because of 
his capture of the Peacock, unwisely accepted a challenge from 
Captain Broke of the British frigate Shamion to come out of 
Boston Harbor and fight him. Broke had a picked crew, 
while that of Lawrence was very inferior. Besides, the latter 
was poorly prepared for action; and yet, under the circum- 
stances, he could hardly avoid the acceptance of the chal- 
lenge. On the I St of June, the two vessels met and fought 

with great fury. In a few minutes every officer 

Defeat of ^^ ^j^^ CJicsapeakc fit for duty was either killed or 

peake. wouudcd. A muskct ball had entered the body of 

the heroic Lawrence, and inflicted a mortal wound. 
When carried below, he issued with his dying breath the order, 
'^ Dojit give j/p the skip. ^- This became a by-word in the navy, 
and was used by Perry on the pennon of the Laiarence, 
which won the victory on Lake Erie (p. 206). On the 14th 
of August the American brig Argus, after a severe fight, was 
captured by the British brig Pelican. American privateers, 
however, still continued to inflict enormous damage on Brit- 
ish commerce on every sea from the English Channel to the 
Indian Ocean. 



EVENTS OF 181S. 209 

With a very inadequate naval force, Great Britain declared 
a " blockade " of the American coast from Montauk Point to 
the mouth of the Mississippi. Admiral Warren was in com- 
mand of the Southern squadron. Next him in 
rank was a vicious man named Cockburn, who "Blockade" 
devastated the farms and homes of the people . °^ *^^ 

. r- r- American 

living on the shores of Delaware, Maryland, and coast. 
Virginia. He and his drunken sailors were guilty 
of crimes that would have disgraced pirates. The inhabitants 
were non-combatants, and therefore there was no excuse for 
the horrible treatment they received. 

Tecumseh had been sent from Canada, it is supposed, by his 
British ally, to rouse by his eloquence the Creek Indians to 
wage war against the United States. Arms had been placed 
in the hands of the savages either by the English or the 
Spaniards. Late in August a thousand Creeks surprised Fort 
Mims, garrisoned by less than two hundred volunteers. After 
a severe contest, in which many of the Indians were killed, the 
fort was taken, and men, women, and children, who had sought 
refuge within its walls, were inhumanly slaughtered. Out of 
several hundred but twelve of the garrison escaped. 

When General Wilkinson was transferred to the command of 
the army of the North, he was succeeded by General Andrew 
Jackson, a man of extraordinary ability and deter- 
mination. He immediately marched into Indiana wa7^ 
Territory, at the head of five thousand Tennessee 
militia. General Coffee, with nine hundred mounted troops, 
found and surrounded two hundred Creek warriors at Tal- 
lushatchee, and slew them all, not one escaping to tell the 
tale. At Talledega Jackson killed three hundred out of one 
thousand. Generals Floyd and Claiborne were equally suc- 
cessful. The Creeks made their final stand at Horseshoe 
Bend, where they were attacked by Jackson ; and although 
they fought with the bravery of despair, they were utterly de- 
feated, and their power for mischief destroyed. 



HUNT. U. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

THE WAR OF 1812 — Continued. 

" War is honorable 
In those who do their native rights maintain, 
In those whose swords an iron barrier rear 
Between the lawless spoiler and the weak." 

Events of 1814. 

The third year of the war opened gloomily for the Ameri- 
cans. The overthrow of Napoleon at Leipsic, and his sub- 
sequent banishment to Elba, had released a large number of 
British veteran soldiers from service on the Euro- 
ects P^^^ continent. England was, therefore, able to 
reenforce her army in Canada, and to strengthen 
her navy along the Atlantic coast. To add to the difficulties 
of the administration, many Federalists in New England and 
in the Middle States were opposed to the war and unwilling 
to furnish the means to carry it on to a successful issue. 
These people were anxious for peace at any price. 

Although Russia had offered her services on several occa- 
sions as a mediator, for the purpose of putting an end to the 
war, England, in her stubborn pride, had persistently refused 
to accept them. She was unwilling to relinquish her assumed 
"right of search and seizure." Finally, however, the prince 
regent, afterwards George IV., agreed to open negotiations 
directly with the Americans. The commissioners 
, met at Gottenburs:. On behalf of the United 

for peace. o 

States were John Q. Adams, Henry Clay, Albert 
Gallatin, James A. Bayard, and Jonathan Russell ; and on 
behalf of Great Britain, Lord Gambler, Henry Goulburn, and 
William Adams. The American commissioners were author- 
ized to propose the abandonment by England of the search 



EVENTS OF I8I4. 211 

of American vessels and the impressment of American sea- 
men, and to offer in return the exclusion of British seamen 
from American ships, and the surrender of British deserters. 

While terms of peace were being discussed, the war was 
continued with great vigor. General Armstrong, the Secretary 
of War, was determined to invade Canada once more. Wil- 
kinson was superseded for incompetency by General Brown. 
In pursuance of the plan of invasion, Generals Scott and 
Ripley crossed the Niagara River on the morning 
of July 2, and surprised and captured Fort Erie. ^^^ ^^^ 
The main body of the Americans, under Brown, 
arrived the next day, and drove the British down the river 
to Chippewa Creek, where they were joined by the force under 
General Riall. Here a severe battle was fought, in which 
the Americans were victorious, compelling the enemy, after 
suffering severe loss, to withdraw within their intrenchments. 
It was in this battle that Winfield Scott manifested the courage 
and military talents which subsequently made him the con- 
queror of Mexico. 

After this defeat, Riall, now deserted by his Indian allies, 
fell back upon Queenstown and subsequently upon Burlington 
Heights, where he was reenforced by a large body of troops 
under General Drummond, who assumed the chief command. 
The Americans were encamped near the Falls of Niagara. 
The British were posted across Lundys Lane, with 
their center resting on a commanding eminence. Battle 

of Lundys 

The lane ran perpendicular to the river. Here, on Lane, 
the 25th of July, was fought one of the most 
fiercely contested battles of the war. Notwithstanding suc- 
cessful fighting by Scott and Jessup, General Brown, who had 
just arrived on the field, perceived that no permanent advan- 
tage could be gained while the British held the height on 
which they had planted a battery which swept the American 
ranks. When Colonel Miller was asked if he could carry 
this battery by storm, he replied, "I'll try, sir." Under cover 
of approaching darkness, and of a fence which helped to con- 



212 THE WAR OF 1812. 

ceal his movements, Miller charged up the height, shot down 
the men at the guns and captured the battery. The British 
made two fierce but unsuccessful charges to retake the guns. 
Scott and Brown were both wounded, and the command de- 
volved on General Ripley, who too hastily withdrew with his 
wounded to Fort Erie, leaving the British the empty honor 
of regaining their own field of battle. 

On the 4th of August Fort Erie was besieged by a large 
force under General Drummond. On the night of the 14th a 
sortie by the Americans resulted in the killing and wounding 

of a thousand of the enemy. A second sortie was 
Fort Erie ^^^^c by General Brown, who now assumed chief 

command, on September 17th; and after some se- 
vere fighting the Americans dismounted the enemy's guns and 
destroyed their advanced works. The British commander, 
learning that General Izard was advancing with a consider- 
able army to the relief of Brown, raised the siege and retired 
to Fort George. Soon afterwards the Americans destroyed 
Fort Erie, returned to Buffalo and went into winter quarters. 
Although no permanent results followed this third invasion of 
Canada, there was this advantage: it proved that in courage 
and military skill the American was the equal of the British 
veteran who had learned the art of war in Spain and Portu- 
gal under the Duke of Wellington. 

Owing to their assumed superiority in naval warfare, the 
invasion of the United States by way of Lake Champlain 
was always a favorite plan of attack by the British generals. 
The withdrawal of the greater part of the army of the North, 
under Izard, left the way clear for the capture of Crown Point 

and the infliction of great damage on the State of 
Sir George ^^^ ^^^^ g.^ Gcorge Prevost, at the head of a 

Prevost's ° ' 

plans. large army of fourteen thousand veteran soldiers, 
went forth to conquer, with far greater hopes of 
success than Burgoyne could have had on a similar expedi- 
tion. On his way to Crown Point he thought it imprudent, 
perhaps, to leave Macomb in his rear, the more particularly 



EVENTS OE 1811^. 213 

as the latter was assisted by a fleet of vessels carrying in 
all eighty-six guns, under the command of Lieutenant Mac- 
Donough. Prevost therefore resolved to capture Plattsburg, 
and destroy the American force stationed there. 

But Macomb was not idle. By appeals to the authorities 
of New York and Vermont, his little army of twenty-five 
hundred was reenforced by about three thousand militia. 
With this force — less than half that of the enemy — he 
retreated across the Saranac, and constructed three redoubts 
and two blockhouses. The brave Macomb was determined 
to fight to the uttermost. He was ably seconded by Mac- 
Donough, a man equally brave and determined. Prevost 
made several attempts to cross the river; but each time he 
was repulsed with severe loss. Then he resolved to await 
the arrival of Captain Downie with a superior naval force, 
which he expected would certainly destroy that 
under the command of MacDonough. In this ex- pi^ttsbur 
pectation, however, the British commander in chief 
was grievously disappointed; for the American, by superior 
seamanship and better handling of his guns, gained a com- 
plete victory, capturing most of the enemy's ships. 

During the engagement, which lasted two hours, Prevost 
made desperate efforts to dislodge Macomb, but utterly failed. 
Having lost two thousand men in killed, wounded, and de- 
serters, and seeing that his fleet was destroyed, he retreated 
so rapidly that he left his wounded behind him in Plattsburg. 
Perhaps he feared the fate of Burgoyne. And thus ended 
an invasion disastrous to England, but very glorious for 
America. 

The termination of the war with France enabled Great 
Britain to line the Atlantic coast with the greater part of 
her powerful navy. Towns on the New England coast were 
attacked, and, as previously stated, the people living on Ches- 
apeake Bay were subjected to acts of wanton cruelty, perpe- 
trated by savage sailors — acts which would have disgraced 
even the Creek Indians. 



214 ^-^^ ^^^^ ^^ -^'^^^• 

But something even worse, something more disgraceful, took 
place during the summer of 1814, which brought the blush of 
shame to the face of every true American patriot. General 
Ross, in command of four thousand regulars and one thousand 
marines, landed at a place called Benedict and commenced his 
march toward Washington. For some unaccountable reason 
— perhaps because he was panic-stricken — the Secretary of 
the Navy, Jones, ordered Commodore Barney to burn his flo- 
tilla and retreat toward the capital. At Bladens- 
ladens- i^^rg a battle, if battle it might be called, was 
fought, in which Ross was victorious. The mili- 
tia, under General Wilder, fled almost at the first fire. The 
marines and seamen, however, under Barney, stood their 
ground gallantly until overpowered by the weight of numbers. 
Although the administration had been repeatedly warned of 
the intended attack, no means were taken to defend the Fed- 
eral capital. The President and his cabinet fled for safety. 
Ross and Cockburn entered the town unopposed on the 23d of 
August, burned the Capitol, the President's house and most 
of the public buildings. They then cautiously retreated, leav- 
ing their camp fires burning, in fear that an indignant people 
would rise in their wrath and destroy them before they could 
reach their ships. 

On the 12th of September, Ross landed at North Point, with 

the purpose of capturing the wealthy city of Baltimore. In 

a skirmish with the American militia the British 

„ ,t. general was killed, and the command devolved on 

Baltimore. & ' 

Colonel Brooks who continued his march toward the 
city. General Strieker took position behind the fortifications, 
and kept the enemy at bay. In the meantime, the British war 
vessels commenced the bombardment of Fort McHenry; but 
they failed to reduce it. The gallant conduct of the garrison 
and the courage of the militia saved Baltimore from the fate 
of Washington. The British silently withdrew in the night. 

While negotiations were pending between the American and 
English commissioners for the restoration of peace. General 



EVENTS OE I8I4. 215 

Andrew Jackson encamped at Mobile, which he had recently 
taken. He had learned that a fleet of sixty vessels, containing 
fifteen thousand veteran soldiers, under the command of Sir 
Edward Pakenham, was about to make an attack on New Or- 
leans, and, if successful, gain possession of the valley of the 
Mississippi. Jackson, with his customary energy, hastened 
to the threatened city, organized the militia, erected fortifica- 
tions, and proclaimed martial law. His last act was clearly 
unconstitutional but necessary; for the first duty of a State is 
to save itself. Five American gunboats, sent out to watch the 
movements of the enemy, were captured after a desperate con- 
test, in which the British lost more men than the gunboats 
contained. 

On the 22d of December the American militia surprised a 
part of the British army about nine miles below the city, and 
after inflicting a loss of four hundred men, retired in good 
order. Jackson's entire force amounted to but six 
thousand men, most of them unskilled and inexpe- Jackson's 
rienced; while Pakenham's numbered twelve thou- victor 
sand veterans, who had been victorious on many 
a European battlefield. But what the American general 
lacked in numbers and discipline was amply compensated for 
by his own military skill and courage. He had made excel- 
lent preparations to give the enemy a warm reception. He 
had constructed a ditch a thousand yards long and five feet 
deep, which he filled with water by opening the levee; and 
a breastwork of cotton bales, against which the enemy's guns 
were almost useless; he had planted eight batteries behind 
his works, with his best gunners and riflemen. He then with- 
drew within his intrenchments, and calmly awaited the ap- 
proach of the enemy. 

On the 8th of January, 18 15, Pakenham, confident of success, 
marched his army over an open plain to the assault. When 
within reach of the American batteries, Jackson opened on 
the advancing columns a destructive and deadly fire. But in 
spite of this the English soldiers continued the advance until 



2l6 THE WAR OF 1812. 

they came within the reach of the American muskets and 
rifles. But human bravery could not withstand such a fire. 
The British fell into confusion and fled. While attempting 
to rally them Pakenham was killed. 

Generals Gibbs and Kean by great efforts urged the Eng- 
lish to make a second assault; but it failed, like the first. 
Gibbs was mortally wounded and Kean was severely hurt. 
The enemy sullenly retired to their camp, and soon afterwards 
embarked on board their vessels. In this battle the slaughter 
of the British was terrible. They lost a third of their army 
in killed, wounded, and prisoners ; while the American loss 
was only seven killed and six wounded. All things con- 
sidered, Jackson's victory at New Orleans w-as one of the most 
glorious ever gained on the American continent. 

As previously stated, a large portion of the Federal party 
was, from the beginning, strongly opposed to the war. In 
New England, especially, the Federalists were intensely hostile 
to the party of Jefferson and Madison, which they consid- 
ered the embodiment of all evil. They were extremely jeal- 
ous of the influence of Virginia and the other Southern States 
in the administration of the government. The war had de- 
stroyed the trade and commerce of New England, and its 
coast had been peculiarly exposed to the depredations of the 
enemy. So strong was the feeling in Massachusetts against 
the war, that the State administration refused to furnish sol- 
diers for the invasion of Canada; Connecticut would not 
permit United States officers to command the State militia. 

Finally, Governor Caleb Strong called a special session of 
the Massachusetts legislature, to be held on the 8th of Octo- 
ber, to consider the grievances of the New England States. 
The speech of the Governor was referred to a special commit- 
tee, which recommended the appointment of twelve 
^ ^^ °!. delegates to meet and confer with other delegates 

Convention. o o 

from New England, to take measures to secure 
delegations from all the States for the purpose of revising 
the Constitution of the United States. The convention met 



EVENTS OF I8I4. 



217 



at Hartford, December 15, 18 14. It contained delegates from 
all the New England States. Its proceedings were carefully 
watched by the administration at Washington and its friends 
throughout the country, and by them denounced as a treason- 
able conspiracy which gave aid and comfort to the common 
enemy. Unfortunately for the delegates, they met in secret ; 
and after deliberating for three weeks, they sent out a report 
recommending a number of alterations in the Federal Con- 
stitution. 

But peace was concluded at Ghent, on Christmas Day; 
and therefore the conspiracy fell to pieces. Fortunately the 
news of the treaty did not reach America in time to prevent 
Jackson's glorious victory at New Orleans. Al- 
though the people rejoiced at the termination of treaty of 

o ^ ^ •" peace at 

the war, they were mortified to learn that the very Ghent, 
cause for which they took up arms — the impress- 
ment of American seamen — had not been yielded by Great 
Britain. However, as the overthrow of Napoleon had led 
to a European peace, practically there was an end of the 
search and seizure of American vessels. Against much disas- 
ter and severe loss the United States gained one great advan- 
tage, worth perhaps the whole cost of the war — America 
had beaten England on her own chosen 
element, and forever destroyed her proud 
claim to be "mistress of the seas." The 
victories of Perry and MacDonough and 
many others proved that in skill and sea- 
manship the bold Briton had at last found 
his master. 

While the United States was at war with 
England, the Dey of Algiers, in. violation 
of the treaty of 1796, extorted from Mr. 
Lear, the American consul, a large sum Decatur. 

of money as the purchase of his freedom 
and that of certain American citizens then in Algiers. Then 
as early as 18 12 he ordered his pirates to prey on American 




2l8 THE WAR OF 1812. 

commerce ; and thus it came to pass that many American sea- 
men had been seized and sold into slavery. These acts of 
barbarism had been perpetrated by the Dey on the plea that 
the United States had failed to pay regularly the tribute for 
exemption from attack by the pirates of the Mediterranean. 
The American government was bound to protect its citizens; 
and therefore sent Commodore Stephen Decatur with a strong 
squadron to demand reparation. On June 15, he 
Expedition captured an Algerine frigate of forty-four guns, 
^A^Tels ^^^ ^ ^^^^ ^^y^ later another frigate of twenty-two 
guns. He also captured the admiral in command 
and four hundred men. He entered the bay of Algiers, com- 
pelled the Dey to release all American prisoners and to relin- 
quish for the future all tribute from the American government. 
Decatur then sailed to Tunis and Tripoli, and demanded and 
obtained compensation in money for treaty violations during 
the war with Great Britain. 
United ^^ ^j-^g close of the war the financial condition of 

^ t^,- ^^^ the country was in a most wretched condition. All 

established. -' 

the banks, except one in Boston, had suspended 
specie payments, and the paper money was sold at a large 
discount. After a great deal of debate in Congress during 
the winter of 1815 and 1816, an act incorporating the Bank 
of the United States was passed. Its capital stock was 
$35,000,000, one fifth of which was subscribed for by the 
United States; and of its twenty-five directors, five were to be 
named by the President. Its charter was to continue in force 
until 1836. 

The Federal party had been greatly weakened by its opposi- 
tion to the war, by its alleged leaning toward Great Britain, 
and by the resolutions passed by the Hartford Convention. 

Hence the Democratic party carried the country by 
Monroe ^^ Overwhelming majority, electing James Monroe 

President and Daniel D. Tompkins Vice President 
by a hundred and eighty-three votes against thirty-four for 
Rufus King, the candidate of the Federalists. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 



MONROE'S ADMINISTRATION (1817-1825). 

" I do not know that Englishman alive 
With whom my soul is any jot at odds, 
More than the infant that is born to-night," 

War is always destructive. While it lasted commerce was 
almost ruined. Many merchant vessels were allowed to rot in 
the harbors along the Atlantic 
coast. As importations de- 
clined manufactures arose. 
But the moment peace was 
declared foreign merchandise 
was poured into the country in 
vast quantities; and of course 
the foreign merchants were 
able to undersell all kinds of 
manufactured goods in the 
American market. The bal- 
ance of trade was very much 
against the United States, and 
most of the American manu- 
facturers were compelled to 
close their factories. How- 
ever, this was not an unmitigated evil, for the capital in- 
vested in unprofitable channels was transferred to other indus- 
tries which yielded a golden harvest. The rich and 
fertile lands of the West were occupied by immi- 
grants from the East and from Europe to such an 
extent that the great valleys of the Ohio and the Mississippi 
were so rapidly peopled and developed that new Territories 
began to knock at the doors of Congress for admission into 
the Union. 

219 




Monroe. 



State of the 
country. 



220 MONROE'S ADMINISTRATION. 

Vermont, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, and In- 
diana had been admitted — the last two respectively in 1812 
and 18 1 6. Thus three free and three slave States had been 
added to the thirteen original States. Shortly after the inaug- 
uration of Monroe, in 18 17, Mississippi was admitted as a 
slave State; but this was balanced by the admission of the 
free State of Illinois in 1818. Then came the slave State 
of Alabama, in 18 19, followed by the free State of 
Admission jyi^ine, in 1820. Since 1791 ten States, five free 

of new . 

g^g^gg and five slave, had been admitted into the Union. 

One of the resolutions passed by the Hartford Con- 
vention recommended that no new State should be admitted 
except by a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress, and 
that none but free persons should be represented in the House 
of Representatives. This was evidently a blow to the spread 
of slavery, and the beginning of that bitter agitation which 
culminated half a century later in one of the most gigantic 
civil wars recorded in history. 

When Great Britain was virtually expelled from the United 
States by the victory at Yorktown, she left behind her the 
canker of slavery which she had imposed on the country. 
The invention of the cotton gin by Whitney had made slave 

labor exceedingly profitable in the South; so that 

Slave la or ^^ ^^ coursc of a f cw ycars the planters had grown 

South. very wealthy, and maintained a state of living not 

unlike that of the barons of the Middle Ages. 
They led a life of ease and luxury, and were therefore in a 
position to devote their time to the study of politics, for which 
they manifested a decided aptitude. 

Had slavery been desirable, it was not profitable in the New 
England States. Hence the little of it that remained when 
the Federal Constitution was adopted had almost disappeared 
north of Maryland and Delaware. In 1789 Virginia, the 
Carolinas, and Georgia claimed the territory as far west as 
the Mississippi, and into this territory they were permitted to 
carry the institution of slavery. But the lands beyond the 



SLAVERY QUESTION. 221 

great river had been purchased by the United States, and 
belonged to all the people, North as well as South, and all 
had equal rights therein. 

In 1818 the Territory of Missouri sought admission into the 
Union. As the session of Congress was about to close it was 
too late to take action that year. Next year, however, a bill 
was introduced in the House of Representatives to erect the 
Territory of Missouri into a State. As it lay west of the 
Mississippi it belonged to all the States, and not to the slave 
States alone. 

Many of the Northern people — especially in New England 
— looked upon slavery as a sin against God and a crime 
against man, and commenced a fierce and bitter 
ao^itation against its extension. An amendment to Agitation 
the bill proposed by Mr. Tallmadge of New York, siaver 
that no slaves should be introduced into the State, question, 
but that slaves already within it should not be dis- 
turbed, was adopted by the House of Representatives. But 
the Senate voted against it. This defeat sent it over to the 
next session of Congress. When the country south of Mis- 
souri was formed into a territorial government, under the 
name of Arkansas, an amendment prohibiting slavery within 
its borders was lost. 

In the meantime, the people of the North were thoroughly 
aroused. In their town meetings and State legislatures reso- 
lutions were passed in opposition to the farther extension of 
slavery. Congress met in December, and the contest was 
renewed with great acrimony. 

Finally the bill of the last session, with some slight altera- 
tions, but still prohibiting the introduction of slaves, was 
passed by the House of Representatives, and forwarded to 
the Senate. Here a bill for the admission of Maine was at- 
tached as an amendment to the bill for the admission of 
Missouri, evidently for the purpose of soothing the feelings 
of the Northern people by balancing a new slave State with 
a new free State. 



222 MONROE'S ADMINISTRATION. 

The two houses failed to agree. There was talk of sep- 
aration, disunion, and territorial division. The United States 

was in danger of disruption. Both houses yielded 

Comp°ro" ^ little, and Missouri was admitted into the Union 

mise"and in 1 82 1, with the compromise that slavery should be 

^^w^toZ\^ M^ver prohibited north of the parallel of 36% 30'. 

Henceforth the question of the extension of sla- 
very continued to divide and disturb the people, until it was 
finally disposed of by the conquest of the South. 

Many of the defeated Creek Indians, dissatisfied with the 
provisions of the treaty of 1814, withdrew to the Seminoles, 
whose territory was partly in the United States and partly in 
Florida. They carried with them feelings of intense hatred 
toward the people of Georgia and Alabama ; and when oppor- 
tunity offered, they killed and scalped the whites with their 
customary cruelty. Then, in order to escape punishment, they 
fled to Florida. They were aided and abetted in their acts 
of violence by certain traders, among whom were two English- 
men named Arbuthnot and Ambrister. 

General Gaines, the commander of the district, demanded 

the surrender of the murderers. The Indians re- 
^^j. fused. On the contrary, they rose in large bodies, 

and committed several acts of extreme ferocity. 
They even besieged Gaines in Fort Scott. 

In the meantime, General Jackson had been directed by the 
Secretary of War to take the field at the head of such militia 
as the governors could furnish. Jackson, foreseeing that there 
would be delay in procuring troops in this way, issued a mani- 
festo calling for a thousand volunteers from West Tennessee 
to join his standard and march to the rescue of their country- 
men. Most of these were the tried soldiers with whom he 
had gained the glorious victory of New Orleans. As usual, he 
acted with great promptitude, and did not hesitate to pursue 
the savages into Florida. 

The retreating Indians had taken refuge in St. Marks, a 
Spanish fort, which Jackson quietly seized and held. On the 



PURCHASE OF FLORIDA. 223 

Suwanee River he destroyed a large Indian village, and com- 
pletely broke the power of the Seminoles. Those who escaped 
fled still farther into the interior. Hearing that the Spanish 
governor of Pensacola was aiding the savages, Jack- 
son boldly marched against that place, and captured ^^^'^"*'°" 

• , 1 . 1 , , . of Arbuth- 

it almost without a struggle. Arbuthnot and Am- ^^^ ^^^ 
brister were captured, tried by court-martial, found Ambrister. 
guilty, and executed. Many persons in the United 
States severely condemned these high-handed methods of sub- 
duing the Indians; but Jackson was sustained by Congress, 
and by the President and his cabinet. 

The Seminole War prepared the way for the acquisition of 
Florida, which gave the United States command of the north- 
ern shores of the Gulf of Mexico. On February, 18 19, a 
treaty was concluded between Spain and the United 
States, by which the latter obtained from the former „, . , 

' •' rlorida. 

East and West Florida, on condition that the Amer- 
icans should assume the claims of her own citizens against 
Spain, amounting to five millions of dollars; but there were 
delays and the treaty was not ratified until 1821. 

At the close of his term of ofiice, James Monroe was re- 
elected President, and Daniel Tompkins Vice President, by an 
almost unanimous vote. One of the first acts of the adminis- 
tration was to send out an expedition under the 
command of Commodore Porter, to destroy the reelection 
numerous piratical vessels which infested the West 
Indies. This work was so thoroughly accomplished that every 
vessel was sunk, captured, or driven from the islands. 

Washington's friend and companion in arms, the noble and 
generous Lafayette, now nearly seventy, visited America in 
1824. He wished to witness the growth and pros- 
perity of the Republic he had helped to establish, Lafayette, 
and the happiness of the people in whose cause he 
had drawn his sword when he was only a boy of nineteen. 
Wherever he traveled during his tour of five thousand miles 
he was received with the highest honors that a grateful people 



224 MONROE'S ADMINISTRATION. 

could confer; and on his departure for France, the govern- 
ment, as a final mark of affection and respect, sent him home 
in a frigate specially fitted up for his accommodation. 

The most glorious act of Monroe's administration was the 
declaration of the '"Monroe Doctrine," of 1823. It was 
brought forth by the conduct of an alliance of France, Russia, 
Austria, and Prussia, to maintain the ''divine right of kings." 
In pursuance of this object, by means of the military power 
of France, Ferdinand, King of Spain, was reinstated in his 
"rights," of which he had been deprived by the Cortes. Em- 
boldened by this success, he asked the Great Powers to aid 
him in reducing the republics of Mexico and South America 
to obedience, and placing them again under the Spanish yoke. 
This the United States resisted. 

President Monroe, in a firm but cautious declaration, stated 
that in the struggle of the Spanish colonies for independence 
the United States had preserved a position of strict 
Doctrine " neutrality, and had since acknowledged their inde- 
pendence. He would, therefore, consider the in- 
terference on the part of any European power to oppress any 
of the republics as an unfriendly act toward the United States. 
In fact, this declaration was equivalent to a notice that the 
American people would not permit the reestablishment of 
monarchy on the American continent. 

The bitter political animosities engendered by the positive 
character of Jefferson, and by the war of 1812, had died out; 
so that the period of Monroe's administration was called " The 
Era of Good Feeling." But toward the close of his second 
term a struggle arose in regard to his successor. There were 
four candidates in the field, Jackson, Adams, Crawford, and 
Clay. Though Jackson had the largest vote, he 

J. Q. Adams. 



had not a majority in the Electoral College. 



Hence, by the Constitution, the House of Repre- 
sentatives was empowered to choose. Clay's votes were added 
to those of Adams, giving the latter thirteen States out of 
twenty-four, and electing him President of the United States. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 



JOHN Q. ADAMS'S ADMINISTRATION (1825-1829). 



" The tears which flow and the honors that are paid when tlie founders of the 
republic die give hope that the republic itself may be immortal.'' 

With the election of Adams by the House of Representatives 
"The Era of Good Feeling" came to an untimely end. The 
supporters of General Jackson 
were indignant at his defeat in 
spite of his having had the 
largest vote of the people. 
They were suspicious of the 
union of Clay's followers with 
those of Adams; and some of 
them went so far as to allege 
that the election was the result 
of a bargain. This feeling of 
hostility against the adminis- 
tration was greatly intensified 
when the President called Clay 
to the chief office under him 
— that of Secretary of State. 
From the character of the two 
statesmen it is morally certain, however, that the charge of a 
bargain was made in the heat of political passion, 
and had no foundation in fact. 

The animosity of the opposition was based on 
other and deeper grounds. From the adoption of 
the Constitution the people were divided into two 
parties ; one believing in a strong centralized government, 
the other in the sovereignty of the people. Jefferson, Madi- 
son, and Monroe, each having held the presidency for eight 

HUNT. U. S. HIST. — 15 225 




John Quincij Adams. 



Hostility 
against the 
administra- 
tion. 



226 JOHN Q. ADAMS'S ADMINISTRATION. 

years, were the leaders of the party of State rights. Hamil- 
ton and John Adams were the champions of the Federal party. 
All the presidents except John Adams and his son were 
Southern slaveholders. The people of the South began to 
look upon the rapid growth of the Northwest with alarm, be- 
cause they foresaw the admission of free States in sufficient 
number to check their power in the Senate. 

Shortly after the inauguration of Adams, a controversy arose 
between the Federal government and the State of Georgia in 
relation to certain lands belonging to the Creek and Cherokee 
Indians. In 1802 the general government had agreed to pur- 
chase the Indian lands for Georgia, on condition that the State 
relinquished its claim to the Mississippi Territory. Since the 
compact the Federal government had extinguished the Indian 
title to fifteen millions of acres, and handed over the land to 
Georgia. But there still remained over nine millions of acres 
in the possession of the Indians. The Creeks had become 
civilized, and now understanding the value of their lands, 
refused to sell them to the government. They even passed a 
law inflicting the death penalty on any one who was found 

selling land. In spite of this law a few of the 
'^clor il* Indians made a treaty disposing of the territory. 

The treaty was sanctioned by the Senate the day 
before adjournment, before it had time to examine it carefully. 
Thereupon Governor Troup of Georgia ordered a survey of 
the lands, which greatly exasperated the Indians. 

The President, fearing hostilities, directed General Gaines 
to protect the Indians, and Troup to stop the surveys until the 
meeting of Congress. But Troup was troublesome and insub- 
ordinate. The President, however, was firm and determined. 
Congress finally entered into a treaty with the Indians, by which 
they were paid large sums of money for their territory which 
was made over to Georgia. This event, although not important 
in itself, is remarkable as the first instance of a State govern- 
ment asserting its sovereignty against the power of the Federal 
government. There were, it is true, rebellions in Massachu- 



TARIFF OF 1828. . 22/ 

setts and Pennsylvania. But these were the acts of indi- 
viduals. The Hartford Convention was an abortive attempt 
to reform the Federal Constitution. 

By a remarkable coincidence John Adams and Thomas 
Jefferson, who served on the committee to draft the Declara- 
tion of Independence — the latter having written 
it— died on the Fourth of July, 1826, while the ^^^thof 

. , \, r . , . Adams and 

people were commemorating the fiftieth anniversary jefferson. 
of the greatest moral event of the eighteenth cen- 
tury. Amid the roar of artillery and the general joy the two 
great patriots" departed this life in the fullness of years, and 
with the love and respect of the whole nation. 

Toward the close of John Quincy Adams's administration 
the tariff became the leading question in national politics. 
The progress of the country in manufactures and agriculture 
led to a change of opinions. North and South. The people 
of New England and the Middle States, who had been free- 
traders in the time of Madison, were now protectionists ; and 
the people of the South, who had been protectionists at that 
period, were now free-traders. Each sought personal advan- 
tage and profit in the legislation of Congress. 
The South desired to obtain manufactured goods of 1828 
from Europe at the least cost in exchange for its 
cotton, rice, and tobacco. The North wished such a tariff on 
foreign goods as would protect the American manufacturer 
from the cheap labor of Europe. Whatever touches the peo- 
ple's pockets is certain sooner or later to become the leading 
political question. A tariff was passed in 1828 more pro- 
tective in its nature than any that had preceded it. While 
it tended to encourage manufactures in the North, it created 
great dissatisfaction in the South. 

After a heated and bitter political canvass, in w^hich even the 
personal characters of the candidates were fiercely 

• 11 1 1 T^ Election of 

assailed. General Andrew Jackson was elected Pres- jackson. 

ident over John Quincy Adams by a very large 

majority, and John C. Calhoun was chosen Vice President. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 



JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION (1829-1837). 

" Proud was his tone, but calm ; his eye 
Had that compelling dignity, 
His mien that bearing haught and high, 
Which common spirits fear." 

The career of Andrew Jackson is one of the most remarkable 
in history. Born of poor immigrant parents from the North 

of Ireland, losing his father 
when a child, reared in abject 
poverty by an excellent mother, 
we first hear of him as a mere 
lad of thirteen resenting Brit- 
ish insolence and tyranny. We 
next hear of him in mature 
manhood crushing Indian in- 
surrections with an iron hand, 
and gaining a great victory 
over that nation which he 
hated with all the strength 
of his rugged nature. The 
man who could raise himself 
Jackson. from SO lowly an origin to be 

the chief ruler of a great 
nation, must have possessed superior qualities of heart and 
brain; but combined with these we must expect other qualities 
not so admirable. Owing to his early environment 
in a semi-civilized district of country, and to the 
lack of a regular education in youth, he was apt, 
like most self-taught men, to be opinionated and headstrong. 
That he was honest, sincere, and courageous, even his worst 
enemies admitted. 

228 




Jackson's 
career. 



UNITED STATES BANK. 229 

Jackson's gratitude, it is only fair to state, to those who 
aided him to reach the presidency led to one of the worst 
evils connected with the administration of the American gov- 
ernment — the removal of men from office for political reasons. 
That the cabinet, who are the political advisers 
of the President, the ministers to foreign courts, Corruption 
and the other great federal officers, should belong government, 
to the party in power is not only right but neces- 
sary. But that subordinate officers whose duties are merely 
clerical, administrative, or judicial should be removed with 
every change in the general government is extremely perni- 
cious. It has created an army of professional politicians of 
the baser sort, who have no visible means of subsistence 
except the spoils of office. "To the victors belong the spoils," 
has been the curse of American politics since the presidency 
of Jackson. The greed for office has been a standing menace 
to the purity of republican government. Jackson, in order to 
make places for his political partisans, removed more men 
from office during the first month of his term, than all the 
Presidents who had preceded him. 

The charter granted by Congress to the United States Bank 
in 1815, to continue twenty-one years, expired in 1836 ; and 
hence it became necessary for its officers to obtain a renewal 
of the charter at an early day. A bill to recharter the bank 
was passed in 1832 by the Senate and House of Representa- 
tives, but was vetoed by the President ; and for 

r , • • 1 , T • 1 . r • 1 1 The United 

lack of the constitutional two-thirds vote it failed states Bank 
to become a law. In regard to the maintenance 
of a national bank the people were nearly equally divided. 
The mass of the common people supported Jackson's hostility 
to it, while most of the merchants, manufacturers, and traders 
favored its retention. The President finally ordered the trans- 
fer of the government funds from the United States Bank to 
certain State banks. This created great excitement through- 
out the country; and many considered the transfer an arbitrary 
and dangerous exercise of power. 



230 JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION. 

At the close of Jackson's first term the country was found 
to be in a most prosperous condition. The nation had paid 
off its national debt. The "good times" and his 
reelection ^^tion against the United States Bank led to Jack- 
son's reelection over Henry Clay, the candidate of 
the opposition, by a large majority. Martin Van Buren of 
New York was chosen Vice President. 

The doctrine of State rights had been a source of trouble 
since the establishment of the independence of the United 
States. John C. Calhoun, a very able man, now a senator 
from South Carolina, and formerly Vice President, became the 
advocate and champion of the right of a State to 
Doctrine of ^yithdraw from the Union in case the people felt 
ri hts themselves aggrieved or oppressed. If this politi- 
cal idea were carried into action, it would neces- 
sarily reduce a powerful republic to so many petty States, the 
prey of any power which might desire the acquisition of new 
territory. It meant disruption and destruction. 

The first duty of a great nation is to preserve itself at 
any cost; and this the President thoroughly understood. So 
he was prepared to meet and crush treason in South Carolina 
when, at a State convention, her representatives declared the 
tariff bill of 1832 unconstitutional, and adopted a resolution 
that the duties should not be paid, and that any attempt on 
the part of the general government to enforce the payment 
would cause South Carolina to withdraw from the Union. 

The hero of New Orleans was not the man to hesitate for 
a moment in such a dangerous crisis. He issued a procla- 
mation and a message to Congress, in which he denied the 
right of nullification or secession, and told the people of 
South Carolina that he would use the combined 
Jackson power of all the other States to compel them to 
sel^ssron ^^^7 ^^^^ ^^'^^^ ^^ '^^^ United States. General Win- 
field Scott was sent to Charleston, in command of 
a military and naval force, to carry out the President's orders; 
and South Carolina quietly submitted. The danger was warded 



THE SEMINOLE WAR. 23 1 

off, or postponed, by the "Compromise Measure" of Henry 
Clay, which provided for the gradual reduction of the tariff 
until 1843, when the duties were to fall to twenty per cent. 

In most cases of difficulty with the Indians the white man 
was the aggressor. He coveted the lands of the savage and 
usually managed to seize them. In this greed for territory is 
summed up in brief the cause for nearly all the Indian wars 
and massacres which are a blot on the page of American his- 
ory. The second war with the Seminoles was no exception to 
the general rule. The territorial government of Florida wished 
to be rid of the savages and to obtain their lands. The States 
of Georgia and Alabama did not want them for neighbors, 
chiefly because their fugitive slaves found refuge and freedom 
among them. 

By the treaty of Dades Landing, seven chiefs of the Semi- 
noles were sent west of the Mississippi to look at the land 
reserved for the Creeks, and to see if the two tribes could live 
amicably together. If everything was found satisfactory, the 
Seminoles were to be transported to the new country within 
three years; and for the surrender of their lands the United 
States government agreed to pay $15,000, together with an 
annuity and certain supplies. 

Many of the Seminoles were opposed to leaving their hunt- 
ing-grounds. Among these was a young chief of dauntless 
courage and savage cunning named Osceola, who combined 
the vindictive cruelty of the Indian with the resolution of the 
Anglo-Saxon. He was nearly white. In addition to other 
causes for hostility, he had suffered personal wrong, in that 
his wife had been kidnapped and carried back into slavery. 
In 1835 the Seminoles, under the leadership of this able 
man, rose up in arms, and began a course of merciless mas- 
sacre. General Clinch, then stationed in the cen- 
ter of Florida, was supposed to be in danger ; and ^^^^ wlT*" 
Major Dade was sent from Tampa Bay to his sup- 
port with a reenforcement of about a hundred and forty men. 
On the march he was surprised, attacked, and his entire force 



232 JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION. 

destroyed. While this slaughter was going on, a small band 
of warriors, under Osceola, surprised General Thompson, who 
was dining just outside Fort King, and killed him and four 
others. The Indians retreated in safety. 

Two days after this event General Clinch attacked and de- 
feated the savages on the banks of the Withlacoochee. Gen- 
eral Gaines, who came from New Orleans with a force of seven 
hundred men, was attacked by superior numbers and suffered 
some loss. The Seminoles were joined by many of 
Progress of ^^^ Creeks ; and murders and devastation became so 

the war. ' 

common that many of the planters of Georgia and 
Alabama were forced to fly northward for their lives. The 
summer was unhealthy for the white soldiers ; and Forts King, 
Drane, and Micanopy were abandoned by the Americans. 
Governor Call, with a force of two thousand men, defeated the 
Indians in two engagements. Finally, General Gaines, who 
had superseded Call, gained a complete victory, dislodged the 
savages from their stronghold on the Withlacoochee, and drove 
them to the Everglades, where they were compelled to sue for 
peace. But peace was only intended to deceive the whites, 
and lull them into apparent security; for five days later the 
Indians made an unsuccessful attack on Fort Melton. 

In October, 1837, Osceola, with several chiefs and about 
seventy warriors, came to the American camp 

Death of ^^ ^ fl ^f truce; but General Jessup, to his 

Osceola. =* ' - r^ 

disgrace, seized and held them as prisoners. Os- 
ceola was confined in Fort Moultrie in Charleston Harbor, 
where he died of fever. The government at last selected an 

able officer. General Worth, to command the dis- 

Arkansas 

and trict, and he virtually brought the war to a close. 
Michigan Two new States were admitted into the Union 
admitted, ^^j-jj^g Jackson's administration — Arkansas in 
1836, and Michigan in 1837. 

In the general election of 1836 Martin Van Buren of New 
Election of York was chosen President, and Richard M. John- 
Van Buren. son of Kentucky Vice President. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

VAN BUREN'S AND HARRISON'S ADMINISTRATION. 

" How quickly nature 
Falls into revolt when gold becomes the object." 

" Death, so called, is a thing that makes men weep. 
And yet a third of life is passed in sleep." 



Van Buren's Administration (1837-1841). 

The city of New York in 1837, as now, was the great financial 
center of the United States. Anything that tends to shake 
or destroy confidence in the 
monetary affairs of this center 
radiates to the circumference 
in all directions. Scarcely had 
Van Buren been inaugurated 
when the banks in the city of 
New York failed to the extent 
of nearly ten millions of dol- 
lars. A delegation from New 
York waited on the President, 
and requested him to afford 
relief to the business com- 
munity, which was suffering 
from the effects of panic. He 
was asked to rescind the " Spe- 
cie Circular," which was a 

treasury order issued during the previous administration, to 
require the payment for public lands to be made in gold and 
silver ; to delay enforcing the collection of revenue duties ; 
and to call an early session of Congress to devise some means 
to relieve the country from its embarrassments. 

233 




Van Buren. 



234 VAN B UREN 'S A D MINIS TRA TION 

The President granted the second request, but refused the 
other two. His refusal caused all the banks in New York 
to suspend specie payments; and this led to a 
crisis of 18 similar suspension of all the banks throughout the 
country. Even the government itself was unable 
to meet its engagements. In spite of his previous refusal, the 
President was induced to call a special meeting of Congress. 
A bill was passed authorizing the issue of treasury notes to 
the amount of ten millions of dollars; and another bill known 
as the Subtreasury Bill passed the Senate, but was defeated 
in the House of Representatives. It was not until 1840 that 
this bill — a favorite one of the administration — passed both 
houses and became a law. As financial panics are usually 
caused by over speculation or over production, the business of 
the country soon returned to a prosperous condition. 

In 1837 the Liberal party in Canada rose in rebellion 
against the tyranny of Great Britain. It was only natural 
that the descendants of "rebels" in the United States should 
sympathize with rebels in Canada. But it was the duty of 
the American government to prevent sympathy from assuming 
the active form of assistance to the insurgents. 

Accordingly, General Scott was sent to the frontier with an 

armed force, and with authority to call for aid from the 

governors of Michigan and New York to prevent American 

volunteers from joining the rebel army, and thereby 

The Cana- ^ausing scrious difficultv between England and the 

dian . "^ . 

Rebellion United States. But in spite of every effort on the 
part of the administration, American sympathizers 
managed to send supplies across the Niagara River in a small 
steamer called the Caroline to a party of five hundred insur- 
gents stationed on Navy Island. A British armed vessel was 
sent to capture the Caroline^ and, not finding her at Navy 
Island, pursued her to American territory, boarded her, and 
in the conflict that followed killed twelve of her men. She 
was then set on fire, and cast adrift down the Falls of 
Niagara. This high-handed act was resented by the people 



MORMONISM. 235 

throughout the United States, and very nearly led to war 
between the two nations. The trouble was not ended until 
some time after the rebellion was subdued. 

The rise of a new religion is always a matter of interest 
to mankind; and Mormonism was no exception to this general 
feeling. The founder of this Christian sect — for they called 
themselves Christians — was Joseph Smith, born in Vermont 
of poor, ignorant farmer parents. The family, which seems 
to have been shiftless, removed to Palmyra, N.Y., where in 
1827 Joseph, like another Mohammed, pretended 

, , , , . , , . . , . . Rise of 

that he had received a divine revelation, written .. 

' Mormonism. 

on golden plates, called the Book of Mormon, 
which he published in 1830. Having made a considerable 
number of converts, he removed with them to Kirtland, O., 
and afterwards to Independence, Mo. But they were expelled 
from that State in 1838, and then settled in Nauvoo, 111., 
where they began to build a great temple. Smith assumed 
extraordinary powers, being, in fact, prophet, priest, and king, 
and amassed a great fortune. At length he was arrested, and 
thrown into jail; and in June, 1844, he was killed by an angry 
mob. He was succeeded by Brigham Young, who persuaded 
his deluded followers to emigrate to the Great Salt Lake, and 
organize the State of Deseret. This territory is now called 
Utah. The Mormons up to a recent period gave the United 
States government a great deal of trouble. 

With the single exception of John Quincy Adams, all the 
Presidents for forty years had been Republicans, or, as they 
were now called, Democrats. The Federal party, now known 
as Whigs, had been in a minority, owing to several causes. 
It did not seem capable of comprehending the wishes of the 
common people in its opposition to the war of 18 12. It had 
to contend, too, against the united front which the Southern 
slaveholders always presented to retain possession of the 
general government. 

The presidential election of 1840 was perhaps the most 
exciting that the country ever witnessed. Martin Van Buren 



236 



HA KRISON 'S A D MINIS TRA TION. 



was nominated by the Democrats, and General William Henry 
Harrison by the Whigs. In order, if possible, to carry Vir- 
ginia, the Whigs nominated John Tyler of that 
ec ion o g^^^g £qj. Vice President. The Western people 

Harrison. ^ '■ 

supported the hero of the Thames and Tippe- 
canoe, who belonged to their section, with great energy and 
enthusiasm. " Tippecanoe and Tyler too " became their war 

cry. Some invidious remark 
about Harrison's being satis- 
fied with a pension and a log 
cabin caused the Whigs to 
make it a log cabin politi- 
cal campaign. Monster mass 
meetings were held every- 
where, even in great cities, 
around log cabins as centers, 
where the ablest orators of 
the Whig party expounded 
Whig politics. The zeal and 
energy of the West were dif- 
fused through the Eastern 
States ; and Harrison was 
elected by an immense ma- 
jority, receiving one hundred and seventy-five votes to Van 
Buren's sixty. 

Harrison's Administration (1841). 

The President was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1841 ; 
on the 4th of April following he lay a corpse in the White 
House. The good-natured, rugged, simple soldier, who had 
withstood the rigors of many a campaign in the 
western wilderness, was unable to withstand the 
harassing importunities of multitudes of office- 
seekers. He was the first President who died in office. 
John Tyler, who was really a Democrat, became, according 
to the Constitution, his successor. 




VJ. H. Harrison. 



Harrison's 
death. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 



TYLER'S ADMINISTRATION (1841-1845). 

" Change places and handy-dandy, which is the governor and which the rebel?" 

The new President had scarcely taken the oath of office 
before he broke away from the Whig party which had elected 
him. He vetoed in succes- 
sion two bills (the latter es- 
pecially amended to meet his 
objections to the former) passed 
by Congress for the establish- 
ment of a United States Bank. 
This led to the resignation of 
his entire cabinet except Daniel 
Webster, the Secretary of State. 

The State of Rhode Island 
continued to be governed by 
her old colonial charter, which 
was anything but Republican 
in form ; for the franchise was 
limited to freeholders and lease- 
holders, which caused a large 

number of the people to have no voice in the government 
under which they lived. There was gross injustice caused 
by the inequality of representation in the legislature. Two 
parties were formed, each advocating its own method of adopt- 




Tyler. 



At a convention held October, 1841, the "suffrage" party 
formed a constitution, and under it elected Thomas W. Dorr 
governor. The " law and order " party, under the old charter, 
chose Governor Samuel W. King. Both parties took up arms, 
and appealed to the Federal government. The suffrage party 

237 



238 TYLER'S ADMINISTRATION. 

was twice dispersed without coming to blows ; and twice Dorr 

fled from the State. Returning once more, to head another 

rising of his followers, he was arrested, tried for 

Dorr's • 1 1 , . . 

Rebellion, treason, convicted, and sentenced to nnprisonment 

for life. But after a confinement of three years 
he was liberated, and in 185 1 he was restored to citizenship. 
The State legislature in the meantime had called a conven- 
tion to draw up a constitution; but it w^as rejected by the 
popular vote. The next year, however, another constitution 
was submitted to the people, and ratified. 

In 1842 Lord Ashburton was sent to America on a special 
mission, to adjust, if possible, the boundary lines between the 
British possessions and the United States. Daniel Webster 
negotiated for America. The chief point of dispute between 

the two countries was the limits of the State of 
Washin ton ^^^i^^G- ^"^ agreement was finally reached, and a 

treaty formed which established the boundaries as 
they stand at present. When the treaty of Washington, as it 
is officially called, was sanctioned by both governments, the 
people on both sides of the Atlantic found fault with it, each 
declaring that they had yielded too much to the other. 

When Mexico began, in the year 18 10, the struggle to shake 
off the yoke of Spain, Texas was sparsely settled by a few 
missions of the Roman Catholic Church; but after the estab- 
lishment of Mexican independence, the republican government 
adopted a liberal system of colonization. It also prohibited 
slavery within the boundaries of the country. The province 
of Texas had been largely settled by adventurers and emi- 
grants from the United States. The Mexican republic was 
troubled by rapid revolutions, created by ambitious soldiers. 

One of these, named Santa Anna, made himself 
, . virtually military dictator. Many of the prov- 

revolution. -^ ■' j r 

inces, however, refused to acknowledge his author- 
ity; and Texas, the largest of them, revolted, and by force 
of arms achieved her independence. But Mexico never relin- 
quished her claim to this extensive territory. 



TEXAS AND FLORIDA. 239 

The new republic, whose leading citizens were mostly 
Americans, naturally sought annexation to the United States. 
But on this question the American people were strongly di- 
vided. The Southern States were in favor of the admission 
of Texas into the Union, because they hoped to carve out of 
the vast territory several slave States to balance the great free 
States of the Northwest. The very reason that impelled the 
South to favor annexation forced the North to oppose it. On 
this very important question the presidential elec- 
tion of 1844 turned. James K. Polk of Tennessee of Poik 
had been nominated by the Democrats, and Henry 
Clay by the Whigs. New York and Pennsylvania, doubting the 
sincerity of Clay, voted for Polk ; and their votes, together with 
the votes of the Southern States, elected him President. 

In the last moments of Tyler's administration a joint reso- 
lution annexing Texas was passed by both houses of Congress. 
It was not to be expected that Mexico could view with indif- 
ference the absorption by the United States of the 

, . , , , 1 ... . Annexation 

territory which had once been her fairest province. ^^ Texas 
Although Texas had been an independent republic 
since 1836, the Mexican government was not without the hope 
of recovering the country. Hence annexation by the United 
States was considered an act of hostility, and, in fact, equiva- 
lent to a declaration of war. The Mexican minister at Wash- 
ington demanded his passports, and returned home. 

The last act of Tvler's administration was the Fio"da 

•' admitted. 

admission of Florida to the Union as a slave 
State, on March 3, 1845. 



CHAPTER XXXVIl. 

POLK'S ADMINISTRATION (1845-1849). 

" A thousand glorious actions that might claim 
Triumphant laurels and immortal fame, 
Confused in clouds of glorious actions lie; 
And troops of heroes undistinguished die." 

The Mexican War. 

When James K. Polk was inaugurated President, he found 
that a war with Mexico was inevitable. Texas agreed to the 

terms by which she became a 
State of the American Union ; 
and, anticipating an invasion 
by Mexico, she requested the 
President to send a naval force 
to protect her coast, and an 
army to defend her territory. 
Both requests were granted. 
General Zachary Taylor was 
advised by the Texan govern- 
ment to move his small army 
of about four thousand men 
to Corpus Christi, the southern 
border of Texas. 

When, however, the United 
States government had learned 
that Mexico had refused to receive the American envoy sent 
to negotiate a settlement of the difficulties between the two 
countries, the President ordered General Taylor to take up 
a position on the Rio Grande, which Texas had declared to 
be the southern and western boundary of the State. Taylor 
moved, accordingly, to the eastern bank of the river, and 

240 




Polk. 




.n.Fol.ri'r f<;. Chi 



THE MEXICAN WAR. 24 1 

erected a fort, which he called Fort Brown. He had previ- 
ously established a depot of provisions at Fort Isabel. 

The Mexican general ordered Taylor to leave this position. 
On the 23d of April, 1846, the enemy crossed the river, and at- 
tacked a small body of dragoons. Sixteen were killed, and the 
remainder captured. This was the first blood shed 
in the contest. As it was becoming evident that Mexico 
the Mexican general Ampudia was making an effort 
to cut off the Americans from their base of supplies, General 
Taylor, leaving a small garrison in charge of Fort Brown, 
moved hastily to the support of Fort Isabel. After strength- 
ening the fort, he began his march toward the river. 

He had not gone very far before he found Ampudia's army, 
consisting of six thousand men, with seven pieces of artillery, 
drawn up across the road near Palo Alto, to bar his progress; 
and although the American force was little more than half that 
of the Mexican, "Old Rough and Ready," as Taylor was affec- 
tionately called by his soldiers, did not hesitate for 
a moment to attack the enemy, chiefly with artillery. ^^^ Resaca 
After an engagement which lasted five hours, the deiaPaima. 
Americans gained a complete victory. The de- 
feated army fell back to Resaca de la Palma, where it made a 
second stand. This time their artillery was better served, and 
the American ranks were severely raked, until Captain May, 
at the head of a body of cavalry, charged up to the very mouths 
of their cannon, slew the artillerymen at their posts, and cap- 
tured General La Vega, the commander. At the critical mo- 
ment the infantry supported the dragoons, and routed the 
enemy. The next morning there was not a single Mexican 
soldier to be found on the east bank of the Rio Grande. 

The President considered the crossing of the Rio Grande as 
an invasion of American territory. He therefore sent a mes- 
sage to Congress, wherein he aroused the warlike 
sentiment of the country by describing the shed- ^^^"^^ ^°" 
ding of the blood of their fellow-citizens by 
Mexican invaders. Congress immediately declared war, 

HUNT. U. S. HIST. — 16 




242 POLK'S ADMlNISTRATIOiV. 

authorized the President to accept fifty thousand volunteers, 
and placed $10,000,000 at his disposal. The news of Taylor's 
two victories had stirred the people to such an extent that 
more than three hundred thousand men volunteered their ser- 
vices. Many fancied that it would be nothing but a grand 
holiday march to the capital of the 
Montezumas. 

While the United States was actively 
preparing for war, one of those sudden 
revolutions so common in the Spanish 
X -T^l American republics took place in Mex- 

J'^Ni&^^m. ico, by which Santa Anna, who had 

been banished in 1845 for a period of 
\ X-V^ % 'fB ^^^ years, was recalled to power. Com- 
\ X, ' V^ modore Connor, then commanding a 

Santa Anna. squadron which blockaded Vera Cruz, 

received orders from the American 
government to permit the exiled general to return to his 
country. The purpose of the President was to open nego- 
tiations for peace, knowing, perhaps, that peace 
san^ta Anna ^^^^ impossible. The effort, however, would serve 
to justify the war in the eyes of civilized nations. 
Santa Anna, now at the head of the military forces of Mex- 
ico, refused to entertain the propositions presented by the 
American government. 

An effective army of twenty-three thousand men began in the 

fall of 1846 the invasion of Mexico. Two thousand of these, 

under the command of General Wool, with headquarters at San 

Antonio de Bexar, were detailed for the conquest 

.. . of the province of Chihuahua: and seventeen hun- 

Mexico. ^ ' 

dred more, commanded by General Kearny, were 
to march from Missouri to Santa Fe, the capital of New Mex- 
ico. The greater portion, however, remained at Fort Brown, 
under General Taylor. 

In the latter part of August, 1846, Taylor crossed the Rio 
Grande with six thousand six hundred men, took possession 



THE MEXICAN WAR. 243 

of Matamoras, and fortified several places on the west side of 
the river. On the 19th of September he attacked the strongly 
fortified town of Monterey, the capital of the province of New 
Leon. In addition to its natural strength, which 
was great, the town had been carefully fortified, MTnte7e° 
and contained an army of ten thousand soldiers, 
seven thousand of whom were regulars, under the command of 
General Ampudia. After a desperate struggle, continued for 
four days, the Americans gained a splendid victory, and ob- 
tained possession of the town. An armistice was declared for 
eight weeks ; but the United States government ordered Taylor 
to renew the offensive, and prosecute the war with vigor. 

In August, 1846, General Philip Kearny, at the head of a 
force of eighteen hundred men, marched a thousand miles 
from Bent Fort on the Arkansas River, and captured Santa 
Fe, the capital of New Mexico, without opposition. 
He organized the province into a Territory of the ^ew Mexico 
United States, and placed a civil governor in com- 
mand. Then he started on a perilous march across the con- 
tinent, for the purpose of seizing the Mexican territory on the 
Pacific Ocean. But learning that California was already in 
the hands of the Americans, he sent back most of his force, 
and with the remainder pursued his march. 

An exploring expedition under Captain John C. Fremont, 
of the Topographical Corps of Engineers, while laying out a 
southern route to Oregon, was threatened by De Castro, gov- 
ernor of California. Fre'mont, learning that the Mexicans 
meditated an attack on some American settlers near San Fran- 
cisco, determined to oppose them. He captured 
Sonoma, recruited his small force, and defeated California 
the Mexicans in several engagements. On the 4th 
of July, 1846, he declared the independence of California. 
In the meantime, Commodore Sloat had captured the towns 
on the coast, had driven De Castro from Los Angeles, and 
had taken Monterey, the capital of the province. Soon after- 
wards California was organized into a United States Territory. 




244 POLK'S ADMINISTRATION. 

The purpose of Mr. Polk's administration was to seize and 
hold the northern provinces of Mexico by means of the army 
under General Taylor, while at the same 
time a strong force under General Scott, 
who was made commander in chief of all 
the armies against Mexico, should capture 
Vera Cruz, march directly for the Mexican 
capital, and strike a fatal blow at the heart 
of the enemy. After the close of the ar- 
mistice with General Ampudia, which had 
displeased the American President, Taylor 
Scott. left garrisons at Monterey and Saltillo, 

and advanced to Aqua Nueva. 
Scott had called for ten thousand of Taylor's troops, so that 
he had only about five thousand men left with whom to con- 
tend against the large army moving northward under the com- 
mand of the Mexican President. 

When Santa Anna learned that the American army in the 
north had been reduced more than half, he collected a force 
which he supposed sufficiently strong to crush General Taylor. 
With this force, flushed with victory, he proposed to rush to 
the support of the army arrayed against Scott. The Mexicans 
m.oving against Taylor outnumbered the Americans more than 
three to one. Taylor fell back to a plateau between rugged 
mountain ridges, where he made a stand, determined to give 
battle to the enemy. The Mexicans, on the 23d 
Buena Vista '^^ February, 1847, ^^^^ the offensive with great 
dash and impetuosity. But they were met with the 
cool courage peculiar to the men of the north. Every charge 
of the enemy was repulsed with slaughter. The battle lasted 
all day; and toward night the Mexicans withdrew. Taylor 
gained a glorious victory against great odds. Santa Anna 
lost fifteen hundred men, while the American loss was less 
than half that number. Colonel Henry Clay, a son of the 
famous statesman, was slain in the battle, and among those 
who distinguished themselves for courage and conduct was 



THE MEXICAN WAR. 245 

Colonel Jefferson Davis, subsequently President of the South- 
ern Confederacy. 

On the 7th of March the fleet containing the army of in- 
vasion, amounting to twelve thousand men, under the com- 
mand of General Scott, arrived at Vera Cruz, a strongly 
fortified town two hundred miles from the Mexican capital. 
Two days later the army was landed by means of surf-boats, 
and took up a position south of the city, which was defended 
by the castle of San Juan de UUoa. On the 2 2d the invest- 
ment was completed. Scott then summoned the garrison to 
surrender, and on their refusal began a furious bombardment, 
which was replied to with some spirit by the artillery of the 
town and castle. For four days the rain of shot and shell 
continued, inflicting some loss on the besiegers, 
but far more on the besieged. The American army ^^p*"''^^^ 

1 1 1 n 1 ^ T Vera Cruz. 

was assisted by the fleet under Commodore Connor. 
The contest continued until the 27th; and just as Scott v\^as 
about to order an assault; the governor of Vera Cruz surren- 
dered the town. 

This victory opened the way by the Jalapa road to the 
Mexican capital. On the 8th of April, General Twiggs was 
ordered to lead the advance. About fifty miles northwest of 
Vera Cruz, Santa Anna, at the head of fifteen thousand men 
hastily collected after his defeat at Buena Vista, took a strong 
position on the heights of Cerro Gordo, where his cannon com- 
manded the only road through the mountains beyond which lay 
the old city of the Montezumas, which was Scott's objective 
point. The position of the enemy was a most formidable one. 
To attack it in front would have been certain destruction. 
The American commander in chief, however, found means to 
attack Santa Anna on both flanks; and General Shields man- 
aged to scale rocky heights in the rear by a path 
that had been deemed inaccessible. A simulta- ^^"'^°^ 

Cerro Gordo. 

neous assault was then made, and every position 

taken by storm. Santa Anna fled with a remnant of his army, 

leaving three thousand prisoners and forty pieces of artillery 



246 POLK'S ADMINISTRATION. 

in the hands of the Americans, together with an immense 
amount of small arms and munitions of war. 

Santa Anna fled to Jalapa, closely followed by Scott, who 

took the town without resistance. He then captured the strong 

castle of Perote, with its artillery and military 

Capture of ^ ^ 

Puebia. Stores. On the 15th of May the old city of Puebla, 
the second in Mexico, was occupied by General 
Worth. Scott was now in the heart of Mexico, far from his 
base of supplies, with an army reduced by battle, sickness, 
and the deadly heat of the summer to five thousand effective 
men. The wonder is that the Mexicans' did not destroy this 
force before reenforcements could come to its aid. 

On the 6th of August General Franklin Pierce arrived with 
his brigade. General Scott called in all his garrisons ex- 
cept that at Vera Cruz, and, leaving Puebla in the hands 
of the convalescents, resumed his march on the 7th of August 
for the Mexican capital, with an army amounting to fourteen 
thousand men. Three days later this' army passed over the 
Rio Frio Mountains without opposition, and from the heights 
beheld the old city of Mexico in the beautiful valley, sur- 
rounded by lovely lakes shining in the sun like polished 
silver. On the nth, General Twiggs reached Ayotla, within 
fifteen miles of the capital. Scott's intention was to attack 
the city on the east ; but he found it so fortified that he con- 
cluded to pass around Lake Chalco, and make the assault 
from the west. 

Santa Anna had thirty thousand men under his command 
in or near the capital, which was strongly fortified with one 
hundred guns to protect the approaches to the city. These 
approaches were extremely difficult, owing to marshes and 
ground composed of broken lava. General Valencia, with six 
thousand men, had taken a strong position on a hill near the 
village of Contreras. Santa Anna sent him an order to spike 
his guns, destroy his stores, and retreat by the mountain paths. 
Valencia refused to obey, and the Mexican commander in 
chief left him to his fate. 



THE MEXICAN WAR, 247 

During the early morning of the 20th of August, General 
Riley seized a hill in the rear of the Mexicans which Valen- 
cia had failed to occupy. Without a moment's hesitation 
the American general ordered an assault against the enemy's 
works. At the same time he was assisted by three brigades, 
which attacked the Mexicans in front. They were thrown into 
utter confusion. Their retreat was almost com- 
pletely cut off: two thousand were slain; a thou- r- ^. ^° 

, Contreras. 

sand prisoners were taken; and guns, ammunition, 
and stores in large quantity were captured. The remainder of 
their broken army, closely pursued by the Americans, fled to 
Churubusco, where Santa Anna had collected all his forces. 
This great victory cost the Americans the insignificant loss of 
sixty men in killed or wounded. 

About four miles northeast of Contreras, was fought the 
most fiercely contested battle of the war. When General 
Worth attempted to carry the bridge, he was met by a wither- 
ing fire from the convent. Shields and Pierce were ordered 
to seize the main road in the rear of Churubusco. In doing 
so, they came upon the Mexican reserves, and would have 
been in imminent danger had not Worth and Pil- 
low carried the bridge and come to their rescue. „^^ ^° 

^ Churubusco. 

Both sides fought desperately and stubbornly; but 
nothing could withstand the dash and courage of the Ameri- 
can soldiers. Again the Mexicans fled in disorder, and again 
the Americans were victorious. 

In order to gain delay, Santa Anna induced the English 
embassy to request an armistice, which General Scott granted 
in the hope of effecting a treaty of peace. The terms pro- 
posed by the Mexican President were too extravagant to be 
entertained. He treated the Americans as thoudi 

o 

they had been the vanquished and not the victori- Battle of 

ous; and the American commander in chief, per- dei°Re° 
ceiving that Santa Anna's purpose was simply to 

gain time, ordered an advance against Molino del Rey and 

Casa de Mata, the outer defenses of Chapultepec. On the 



248 POLK'S ADMINISTRATION, 

7th of September a desperate engagement took place, in which 
General Worth lost a quarter of his entire force. After a 
fierce struggle the Americans captured both fortresses, and 
took seven hundred prisoners. The Mexicans then fled to 
Chapultepec. 

Chapultepec, formerly the residence of the Spanish vice- 
roys, is situated on a rocky eminence a hundred and fifty feet 
above the surrounding country. It was strongly fortified; and 
on its northern and eastern sides was accessible, while the 
approaches on the southern and western sides were so exceed- 
ingly difficult that the fortress was almost impregnable. Gen- 
eral Scott called a council of war at which it was decided that 
Chapultepec must be captured before the city could be taken. 
On the 12th the Americans opened an artillery fire against the 
enemy's works, but with little effect. The follow- 
Cha uite ec ^^S ^lorning, after a desperate resistance, the for- 
midable fortress was carried by storm ; and all day 
the battle was continued on the causeways leading into the 
capital. At night one division of the American army w^as in 
the suburbs, and another within the city gates. During the 
succeeding night Santa Anna, with his whole army and all 
the officers of his government, fled from the capital; and the 
stars and stripes floated in triumph over the " halls of 
the Montezumas." Mexico was conquered by a series of vic- 
tories which reflect the highest credit on the valor of the 
American private and the skill of the American offlcer. 

On the 2d of February, 1848, the terms of a treaty of peace 

were concluded ; and after some alterations the Senate adopted 

it on the loth of the following month. On the 

Treaty of ^^^i^ ^£ y^^^ -^ ^^^ ratified by the Mexican gov- 

Hidaigo. ernment. By the terms of this treaty the United 
States received a vast territory, including Texas, 
New Mexico, Arizona, and California; and agreed to pay the 
paltry sum of $15,000,000; to assume the debts due American 
citizens by the government of Mexico, and to relinquish all 
the cities and towns captured during the war. 



THE MEXICAN WAR. 249 

A great number, perhaps a majority, of the Northern people 
had been opposed to the annexation of Texas and to the war 
with Mexico, because they had foreseen that the result would 
lead to the extension of slavery and the increase of the already 
overgrown power of the slaveholders in the affairs of the 
nation. The Abolition party — especially in New England 
and in some of the new Northwestern States — had devel- 
oped into formidable proportions. It was op- 
posed to all compromises with, and concessions ^^^^^^' °f 

, T- . . , . , . the slavery 

to, slavery. It insisted upon its utter destruction, agitation, 
root and branch. There was still another party 
in the North — the Free Soil party — whose purpose was to 
prevent the extension of slavery into the new territory con- 
quered from Mexico. With this end in view, David Wilmot 
of Pennsylvania introduced a bill in the House of Repre- 
sentatives, providing that slavery should be prohibited in 
the lately acquired provinces. The "Wilmot Proviso," as it 
was called, led to angry discussions, and split the Democratic 
party in two. 

The Whigs nominated the victorious general, Zachary Tay- 
lor, for President, and Millard Fillmore for Vice President. 
General Lewis Cass was nominated by the Demo- 
crats, and, had they been united, they would doubt- ^^ j 
less have elected him. But the Free Soil party 
nominated Martin Van Buren on the platform of the Wilmot 
Proviso, and polled sufficient votes to defeat Cass and elect 
Taylor. 

During Polk's administration three States were Admission of 
admitted into the Union, Texas as a slave State, Texas, lowa, 
in 1845, and Iowa and Wisconsin as free States, ^"^ 
the former in 1846, and the latter in 1848. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

fAYLOR'S AND FILLMORE'S ADMINISTRATION. 

" No slave hunt on our borders, 
No pirate on our strand." 



Taylor's Administration (1849-1850). 

The United States had scarcely obtained possession of Cali- 
fornia, when, on the land of a Swiss settler named Sutter, 

gold was discovered in large 
quantities. In February, 1848, 
some workmen employed in 
cutting a mill race on a fork 
of the Sacramento River turned 
up black earth spangled with 
gold. On further examination 
the sands in all the streams 
flowing from the Sierra Nevada 
were found mixed with the 
precious metal. It was impos- 
sible to preserve the discovery 
a secret. The news was soon 
spread over all the earth. La- 
borers forsook their farms, and 
sailors deserted their ships. 
Emigrants from the northwest crossed the plains and the 
Rocky Mountains; others from the northeast sailed around the 
Horn, or reached the gold fields by way of Pan- 
Discovery ^^^ jj^g population quickly rose from fifteen 
CaHf°ornia. thousand to nearly one hundred thousand. To 
give an idea of the condition of affairs in the 
mining districts, it is only necessary to state that at one time 

250 




Taylor. 



SLA VER Y A GITA TIOiV. 2 5 I 

flour and pork were sold at one hundred dollars a barrel, and 
a dollar was the price paid for a newspaper. As most of the 
immigrants were from the old Northern States, they naturally 
desired to frame a Republican constitution. 

In 1849 General Riley was military commander of the newly 
acquired territory. In accordance with the wishes of the 
administration, he issued a proclamation calling upon the 
people to meet in convention, and establish a territorial gov- 
ernment. The meeting took place, and a constitution was 
framed prohibiting slavery. The people then asked for the 
admission of California into the Union. 

The question of slavery continued to disturb the country. 
Most of the Southern people believed that human slavery was 
" a divine institution ; " while in the North many considered 
it "a sin against God and a crime against man." The par- 
allel of 36°, 30' ran almost through the middle of California. 
The Southern ''fire eaters," as the most radical proslavery 
agitators were now called, claimed that all the vast territory 
obtained by conquest had been acquired by Southern valor 
and Southern blood; that the North had been 
opposed to the war with Mexico, and had thrown ,. ^^^ ^ ° 

'■ ^ dissolution. 

every obstacle in the way of prosecuting it to a 
successful issue. The slaveholders demanded the right to 
carry their slave property into the new Territories, and once 
more threatened a dissolution of the Union. President Tay- 
lor, with the spirit of Andrew Jackson, informed the seces- 
sionists that if they made an attempt to take a State out of the 
Union, he would suppress them by force of arms; and that, 
too, without calling for a single soldier from a Northern State. 
The threat, however, had its effect. Statesmen and patriots 
in the North feared disunion more than the spread of slavery. 
Many of them, like Daniel Webster, foresaw civil war, and 
hoped to ward it off in their day. 

Henry Clay stepped in for the third time as a peacemaker. 
He introduced in the Senate eight resolutions, which he 
offered as a compromise that would satisfy the majority of 



252 



FILL MORE 'S ADMINISTRA TION. 



California 
admitted. 



the people, North and South. They admitted California as 
a free State in 1850; they made the Rio Grande the western 

boundary of Texas, 

provided the latter 

abandoned her 
claim to New Mexico; they 
prohibited the introduction of 
slaves into the District of Co- 
lumbia, but did not abolish 
slavery therein ; they declared 
that Congress had no right to 
interfere with the trade in 
slaves between the slave 
States; and they made more 
stringent provision for the 
recovery of fugitive slaves. 
This was a heavy price to 
pay for the admission of Cali- 
^.„ , fornia as a free State. An acrimonious debate 

1*111111016 S 

succession was Continued throughout the spring and summer; 
to the but the resolutions, slightly amended, were finally 

presidency, p^ggg^j 'y^ ^^ form of Separate bills. These to- 
gether are known as the Oinnibus Bill. While these discus- 
sions were agitating the whole country, President Taylor died 
after a short illness of one week, and was succeeded by Mil- 
lard Fillmore of New York, the Vice President. 




Fillmore. 



Fillmore's Administration (1850-1853). 

As one by one the compromise measures passed both 
houses, Mr. Fillmore signed them, and the Attorney-general 
pronounced them constitutional. The most obnoxious of 

these bills to the people of the North was the Fugi- 
siave^Law ^^^^ Slavc Law. By its provisions a slaveholder 

could claim a colored man in any free State of the 
Union as his property, and the person claimed was denied 
the right of trial by jury. The courts were compelled to give 



GENERAL PROSPERITY. 253 

him up to the claimant on his mere word. All citizens were 
called upon to assist the authorities, when necessary, to send 
the colored man, whether free or not, into slavery. The 
Southern statesmen evinced a most extraordinary lack of 
judgment in pressing such a law through Congress, and Fill- 
more a singular want of political foresight in signing it; for 
it made Abolitionists and Free Soilers by the thousand, and 
destroyed all hopes of the President's nomination at the end 
of his term. 

While the people. North and South, were becoming every 
day more bitter and estranged because of the existence and 
extension of slavery, and preparing for the great struggle 
which compromises could not much longer put off, the coun- 
try had never been in such a prosperous condition. Trade, 
commerce, manufactures, arts, and education flourished. The 
European revolutions of 1848-1849 had driven to 
America large numbers of a superior class of im- ^ ^ ^^.^ 
migrants, many of whom settled in the northwest. 
The Bureau of Agriculture — since erected into a depart- 
ment — was established; measures were taken to construct 
the Pacific Railroad to span the continent; and Commodore 
Perry was sent to Japan to open the ports of that wonderful 
country to the world. 

The nominations for the presidency were made chiefly on 
account of the "availability" of the candidates. The states- 
men of both parties — Clay, Webster, Marcy, Cass, Buchanan, 
and Seward — were thrown overboard, and two military chief- 
tains without experience in civil affairs, General Winfield 
Scott and General Franklin Pierce, were chosen 
the political standard-bearers; the former for the pierce.° 
Whigs, and the latter for the Democrats. Pierce 
was comparatively unknown. He had served as a subordinate 
under Scott ; and yet he was victorious over his old commander 
by a very large majority. Scott carried only Massachusetts, 
Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee. William R King of 
Alabama was chosen Vice President. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

PIERCE'S ADMINISTRATION (1853-1857). 

" They are slaves who fear to speak 
For the fallen and the weak," 



Pierce was elected President because the majority of the 
people had grown weary of the constant agitation of the 

slavery question. They de- 
sired repose at any price, in 
order to pursue their peaceful 
occupations. The new admin- 
istration perceived that the 
election had turned upon this 
feeling, and the President in 
his inaugural address and sub- 
sequent message to Congress 
assumed the position that the 
Oimiibus Bill had settled the 
question of slavery, if not for- 
ever, for a very long time. 
But it was only salved over 
and healed on the surface, but 
liable to break out afresh at 
any moment. It had to be cut out with the sword. 

It will be borne in mind that the Mexican gov- 
ernment had prohibited slavery in all the territory 

ident's view , ^ , •' 

of slavery, acquired by the United States in the late war; that 
is to say, in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and 
California. The South demanded the right to carry slaves 
into this territory; the North was decidedly in favor of con- 
verting it into free States. The slaveholders insisted that the 
parallel of 36°, 30' should be extended to the pacific. 

254 




Pierce. 



KANSAS- NEBRASKA BILL. 255 

While both sides were in this state of mind, Stephen A. 
Douglas, a senator from Illinois, introduced his celebrated 
Kansas -Nebraska Bill, which once more aroused 
the people as thev had never been aroused before. Kansas- 

Nebraska 

At this time Nebraska included all the territory gjjj_ 
north of Texas and west of Iowa and Missouri 
as far as the Rocky Mountains. The bill divided the territory 
into two parts, the northern part to be known as Nebraska, 
the southern as Kansas, and left it to the settlers them- 
selves whether they should or should not establish slavery. 
This was simply a repeal of the Missouri Compromise; for, 
according to the terms of that bill, all territory north of 
36°, 30' should be freey while territory south of this line ?nig/it be 
slave. The failure of that compromise was owing to the fact 
that the enlightened statesmen of 1820 could not possibly fore- 
see the conquest of a quarter of a great continent. The bill 
was passed in both houses, and, having received the Presi- 
dent's signature, became a law. 

The indignation of the North was intense and bitter; and 
Douglas, the "Little Giant," was burnt in effigy. As the 
existence or excliision of slavery in these two territories, soon 
to become States, depended on the settlers, there was a great 
rush of proslavery men from Missouri and other slave States, 
and free State men from the North, especially from New Eng- 
land. The former were nicknamed "Border Ruffians," and 
the latter " Black Republicans." Both went armed, and estab- 
lished separate territorial governments. It was not 
long before civil war broke out between them. Armed 

, . , . T • 1 • •. o bands in 

which was continued with great animosity, bev- Kansas, 
eral governors were appointed in rapid succession, 
who were unable to restore order. Finally, in 1859, a free 
State constitution was ratified, under which Charles Robinson 
was elected governor ; but Kansas was not admitted into the 
Union until after most of the Southern members of Congress 
had retired to cast their lot with the Secession government at 
Montgomery. 



256 PIERCE'S ADMINISTRATION. 

The disastrous defeat of General Scott in 1852 virtually 

destroyed the Whig party, and, except in the South, there was 

a general disruption of the old parties. A new and strange 

political organization sprang into life, called the American 

or Know-nothing party, because when any person 

American asked a member anything about the party, he was 

or now- instructed to say, "I know nothing." The orsfani- 

nothing -^ ' ^ . ^ 

party. zation was secret and oath-bound; its principles 
were narrow and illiberal. A million and a half of 
voters joined it in the first two years of its existence, and in 
the elections of 1855 it swept nearly all the Northern States; 
but Henry A. Wise, the Democratic candidate for governor, 
of Virginia, in a series of most eloquent speeches, attacked 
it with great vigor, and was triumphantly elected. Besides 
the defeat in Virginia, the proslavery and the antislavery men 
in the party, finding that they could not use it to advance 
a cause which came nearer to their hearts, abandoned it to a 
lingering death. 

On the 22d of February, 1856, a momentous meeting of all 
the elements opposed to the extension of slavery was held in 
the city of Pittsburg. Present party names were 
epu ican jjj-Qppg^j^ ^-^^ W^higs, Free Soilers, and Know- 
nothings became henceforth Republicans. The 
meeting resolved to call a convention to be held at Philadel- 
phia on the 17th of June, the anniversary of the battle of 
Bunker Hill. This new party nominated John C. Fre'mont 
for President, and William L. Dayton for Vice President. 

The Democratic party met at Cincinnati, and nominated 

James Buchanan for President, and John C. Breckinridge for 

Vice President. The proslavery " Americans " nom- 

Eiectionof .^^^^^ Millard Fillmore. In the contest which 

Buchanan. 

followed, Mr. Buchanan was elected, but by a 
minority vote of the people. The new party, however, proved 
its strength by polling 1,341,000 votes, or within half a million 
of the votes given to the successful candidate. 



CHAPTER XL. 



BUCHANAN'S ADMINISTRATION (1857-1861). 



" The man was noble, 
But with his last attempt he wiped it out ; 
Destroyed his country ; and his name remains 
To the ensuing age abhorred." 

Scarcely had Mr. Buchanan been inaugurated when Chief 
Justice Taney, supported by a majority of the Supreme Court of 
the United States, rendered a 
decision which aroused the in- 
dignation of the North against 
the institution of slavery even 
more than the repeal of the 
Missouri Compromise or the 
murders committed by the 
"Border Ruffians" in Kan- 
sas. This was the Dred Scott 
Decision. 

Scott had been a slave, and 
the son of slaves; he had lived 
with his master for several 
years in the free State of Illi- 
nois, and afterwards in the free 
Territory of Minnesota. His 

master then returned with him to the slave State of Missouri. 
Here Scott entered a suit for his freedom, on the ground that 
his long residence on free soil made him a free 

TT- , 1 . , r>, The Dred 

man. His master's answer to this was that Scott scottcase 
could not bring an action because, being a slave, 
he was not a citizen. The case was carried to the Supreme 
Court of the United States, and there it was decided by a 
majority of the justices that a slave did not gain his freedom 




Buchanan. 



HUNT. U. S. HIST. 



257 



258 BUCHANAN'S ADMINISTRATION. 

by residence in a free State ; that he was not a man, but prop- 
erty, and that his master could carry him, like any other 
property, into any State of the Union. This decision virtually 
established slavery in the United States. 

It is sometimes difficult to trace the causes of the sudden 
convulsions which occur periodically in the commercial affairs 
of the country. They come usually at a time of great ap- 
parent prosperity, as suddenly as a summer thun- 

^j jg derstorm; but unfortunately they do not pass away 

as rapidly. The general cause is over speculation, 
over production, and the over expansion of credits; and these 
evils in the present case received a great impetus from the dis- 
covery of gold in California and Australia. Such is the inti- 
mate relation between the great centers of trade, that the 
failure of one great house to meet its engagements is felt all 
over the commercial world. The immediate cause of the 
panic of 1857 was the failure of the Ohio Life and Trust Com- 
pany. Nearly all the banks in the country were unable to 
meet their indebtedness, and even the national government 
was unable to pay its officers. It was several years before the 
nation recovered from the results of the panic. 

While eloquent and acrimonious debates were carried on 
from day to day and month to month in regard to the admis- 
sion of Kansas as a State of the Union, and while Mr. 
Buchanan was appointing territorial governor after governor, 
with the purpose of establishing peace at any price; and while 
members of Congress were concocting and presenting compro- 
mises in the vain effort to ward off the impending conflict 
between freedom and slavery, a most singular event occurred 
in Virginia which had no small influence in hastening the 
struggle about to take place between the opposing forces. 

John Brown, a stern enthusiast of Puritan descent, thor- 
oughly imbued with one idea, the utter wickedness of slavery, 
resolved to make a practical effort to free the slaves. He 
had taken an active part in the struggle to make Kansas a 
free State ; and in one of the many conflicts with the Border 



JOHN BROWN'S RAID. 



259 




\ioht\ Brown. 



five of 



Ruffians one of his sons was killed, and another driven to 
insanity by cruel treatment. That he was willing to take his 
life in his hand in what he be- 
lieved to be a good cause is 
proof sufficient of his honesty, if 
not of his wisdom, and of that 
self-sacrifice which is the foun- 
dation of all heroism. Even his 
enemies, even Governor Wise of 
Virginia, bore testimony to his 
integrity. The means with which 
he undertook his celebrated in- 
vasion were ridiculously inade- 
quate. He had two hundred 
Sharp's rifles, two hundred pis- 
tols, a thousand pikes and a force of eighteen men, 
whom were negroes. 

At midnight, on the i6th of October, he rushed across the 
Potomac, and by a sudden dash seized Harpers Ferry, a 
United States arsenal, with all its stores and muni- 
tions of war. His aim was to arouse the negro ^°^" 
slaves to fight for their freedom ; but they refused ^aid 
to respond to his call. He was attacked by a body 
of national marines, against whom he and his little band 
fought with desperate valor until all except two, who escaped, 
were either killed or wounded. Among the latter was Brown 
himself, who was subsequently tried, convicted, and hanged. 
Six of his companions suffered a similar fate. 

On the 23d of April, i860, the Democratic convention met 
at Charleston, S.C., to nominate candidates for the offices of 
President and Vice President The followers of Stephen A. 
Douglas had a majority in the formation of the platform ; 
and when the delegates from the cotton States, to whom 
Douglas had become obnoxious, perceived that he was likely 
to receive the nomination, they withdrew in a body. After 
fifty-four fruitless ballots, the convention adjourned to meet 



26o BUCHANAN'S ADMINISTRATION. 

on the i8th of June, at Baltimore; but when it met the con- 
dition of affairs was worse than before. Many other pro- 
slavery delegates seceded. Finally, the Northern 
Presidential Dgmocrats, and those who remained from the 
of i860 South, nominated Mr. Douglas for President, and 
H. V. Johnson for Vice President. The seced- 
ing delegates on the same day nominated John C. Breckin- 
ridge for President, and Joseph Lane for Vice President. 
Thus the Democratic party was fatally split in two. On the 
19th of May the Republican convention at Chicago nomi- 
nated Abraham Lincoln of Illinois for President, and Han- 
nibal Hamlin of Maine for Vice President. What remained 
of the American or Know-nothing party nominated John Bell 
for the head of their ticket, and, strange to say, the polished 
and distinguished Edward Everett for the lower position. 

In this election, the most momentous in the history of the 
country, there was no question of availability, or of nomi- 
nating successful generals who knew nothing of statesmanship. 
The chosen leaders were able and aggressive exponents of 
party principles. Lincoln was the bold and fearless advocate 
of the prohibition of slavery in the Territories; Breckinridge 
the champion of carrying slaves into all the Territories; and 
Douglas the eloquent debater, in favor of leaving the matter 
of slavery or no slavery entirely in the hands of the settlers 
themselves. The result of the election was as follows: Lin- 
coln received 1,857,610 votes; Douglas 1,291,574; Breckin- 
ridge 850,082, and Bell 646,124. So that the can- 
Lincoln didate of the Republicans was elected President, 
notwithstanding that he lacked 930, 170, of a major- 
ity. The Southern vote was almost equally divided between 
Breckinridge and Bell. Had the vote of either been added to 
that of Douglas, he would have been elected, and secession 
warded off for perhaps another decade. 

Anything that endangers the stability of government causes 
the price of securities to fall. Caipital is always timid, and 
responds as readily to political influences as mercury in the 



BUCHANAN'S WEAKNESS. 261 

thermometer to the heat or cold of the atmosphere. The elec- 
tion of Lincoln caused a decided fall in all kinds of securities. 
President Buchanan, evidently alarmed at the as- 
pect of affairs, recommended, in his message to ^^^^^tof 

• • r 1 • 1 r Lincoln's 

Congress, the recognition of the right of property election, 
in slaves, where slavery now existed; the right for 
the protection of such property in the Territories until they 
became States, with or without slavery; and a more effective 
and rigorous enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law. But 
Buchanan went even farther than this. He declared that 
unless these rights were granted to the South, the Southern 
people would be justified in resisting the Federal govern- 
ment, and that there was no power under the Constitution to 
coerce a State to remain in the Union. 

It seems that the President forgot that self-preservation, 
with a nation, as with an individual, is the first law of nature. 
Had Andrew Jackson or Zachary Taylor been alive and Presi- 
dent at this crisis, he would have said, "Gentlemen, you 
may try to secede, but you can't do it; for, if you 
try, I shall march an immense army against you; I weakness 
shall collect the revenue; I shall protect the Fed- 
eral property; I shall organize State governments in your sev- 
eral States, for more than half your people are Unionists; I 
shall see that representatives are sent to both houses of Con- 
gress. So, gentlemen, you perceive that secession is impos- 
sible." Prompt and determined action of this kind would 
have nipped secession in the bud. 

As was to be expected, Buchanan's recommendations were 
condemned by both parties. The strife was continued in Con- 
gress; and the South secured what it wanted, — time for prepa- 
ration and organization. Had an energetic military man been 
at the head of the government instead of a constitutional 
lawyer, secession might have been warded off for a long time; 
but the struggle was bound to come sooner or later. 

There is no doubt that the great majority of the people 
loved the American Union with a passionate devotion. It 



262 BUCHANAN'S ADMINISTRATION. 

was this Union which made the United States a great power 
among the nations of the earth, and caused its citizens to be 
respected wherever they traveled or sojourned. The foes of 
freedom, the friends of despotism, hailed the disruption of the 
American Republic with joy and thanksgiving. The chief 
organ of Toryism in England exclaimed with delight, "The 
Great Republic is no more." 

And yet, when the election of Lincoln took place, the aboli- 
tionists did not comprise a tenth of the Northern people; nor 
did the Secessionists, even in the cotton States, amount to a 
majority of the slaveholders. But both these parties were sin- 
cere, and determined to accomplish their purposes. Between 
these two hostile forces stood the vast majority of the people 
strongly attached to the union of States. As usual in such a 
condition of affairs, the men of fixed principles, good or bad, 
knew exactly what they wanted, and went to work with zeal 
and energy to accomplish the ends they had in view. 

In the meantime, the Unionists in Congress directed all their 

efforts, during the winter of i860 and 186 1, to prevent secession. 

The Crittenden Compromise yielded up everything 

Efforts to ^j^^^ ^j^g South had ever asked for: an amendment 

prevent , „ . . i i • i i i r 

secession. ^° ^"^ Constitution to establish slavery south of 
36°, 30'; to prevent Congress from abolishing sla- 
very; and to permit slaveholders to carry their slaves into the 
free States. Such was the eagerness of the majority to pur- 
chase union at any price, that these concessions would have 
passed both houses had not the representatives from the cot- 
ton States deserted their seats in Congress. In point of fact, 
the North virtually prostrated herself before the South, and 
humbly begged her to remain in the Union; but the latter 
treated her stronger sister with sovereign contempt. 
States Ordinances of secession were passed in the 

voting for ... 

secession, sevcn cotton States by very large majorities, as 
follows: South Carolina; Dec. 20, i860; Florida, 
Jan. 7, 1861; Mississippi, Jan. 9; Alabama, Jan. 11; Geor- 
gia, Jan. 19; Louisiana, Jan. 25; and Texas, Feb. 5. These 



GOVERNMENT AT MONTGOMERY. 263 

States seized all the United States property within reach, 

including forts and arsenals. All the Federal office holders 

resigned. Still, in spite of this robbery, the Union men of 

the North and of the border States hoped and 

worked for peace. They made every effort pos- Provisional 

sible to prevent disruption. A convention of s°^^''""^^" 
^ ^ at Mont- 

delegates from the seven seceding States met at gomery. 

Montgomery, Ala., and formed a provisional gov- 
ernment, which they called The Confederate States of Amer- 
ica. Jefferson Davis of Mississippi was chosen provisional 
President, and Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia Vice Presi- 
dent. ' - . - : 

Major Robert Anderson was stationed at Fort Moultrie with 
a small garrison. Late in December, i860, he moved his force 
to Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, because it was better 
adapted for defense. The Secessionists, meanwhile, continued 
to erect batteries and make preparations for war. Commis- 
sioners from South Carolina sought an audience with Mr. 
Buchanan for the purpose of securing a division of the United 
States property; but the President refused to see 
them unless they came as citizens of the United Anderson 
States. A feeble attempt was made by the Federal 
government to reenforce Major Anderson. A small steamer, 
the Star of the West, was sent to Charleston Harbor with pro- 
visions and a few recruits; but she was fired at by the rebels, 
and compelled to retire. Thus the garrison were left during 
the winter to consume their small store of provisions, and to 
remain inactive, at the mercy of an enemy who day by day grew 
stronger and more determined. 

Three new States were admitted into the Union Minnesota, 
during Buchanan's administration — Minnesota in o^^egon, and 

" _ Kansas 

1858, Oregon in 1859, and Kansas in 1861. admitted. 



CHAPTER XLI. 



LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRATION (1861-1865). 

" Wise men ne'er sit and wail their loss, 
But cheerly seek how to redress their harms. 
What though the mast be now blown overboard, 
The cable broke, the holding anchor lost. 
And half our sailors swallowed in the flood ? 
Yet lives our pilot still." 

Abraham Lincoln, as a man, as an orator, and as a states- 
man, was one of the most remarkable men that ever lived. 

Next to Washington he holds 
the first place in the Amer- 
ican heart. Born and reared 
in poverty, accustomed from 
childhood to the hardest toil, 
self-instructed, in spite of diffi- 
culties almost insurmountable, 
he rose step by step, by force 
of genius, from the position 
of rail splitter to that of attor- 
ney, and from attorney to the 
chief magistracy of the repub- 
lic. His rise sounds more like 
romance than reality. He first 
i^i„cQi,^_ came into notice in his cele- 

brated contest against Stephen 
A. Douglas for a seat in the United States Senate from the 
State of Illinois; and although the latter was successful, 
Lincoln had manifested in his addresses such mas- 
terly ability and elevation of character, that the 
Republican convention made him its nominee for 
the presidency over the heads of such statesmen as 
Seward, Chase, and Sumner. 

264 




Lincoln's 
rise to 
power. 



PREPARATIONS FOR WAR. 265 

Late in February he started out from his humble home in 
Springfield, 111., to assume the great office to which he had 
been constitutionally elected. Everywhere on his journey to 
Washington he was received with honor by the loyal people. 
Rumors, however, only too well founded, had reached the ears 
of his friends, that under cover of a mob certain Secessionists 
in Baltimore intended to assassinate him. But he managed to 
elude his enemies, and reached the capital in safety. Then 
arose fears of tumults at his inauguration; but it passed off 
without disturbance. In his inaugural address the 
President distinctly announced that disunion was . ^ , 

■> inaugural. 

a physical impossibility; that the institution of sla- 
very where it existed should not be disturbed; that the Fu- 
gitive Slave Law should be enforced; that he would use the 
power which inhered in his office to hold and occupy the 
property and places that belonged to the Federal government ; 
and that he would collect the duties and imposts. Beyond 
the performance of these duties there would be, he assured 
the Secessionists, no invasion of any State. 

President Lincoln's inaugural address showed that he was 
exceedingly anxious to avoid the horrors of civil war. For 
nearly three weeks his administration hesitated to act, in the 
hope that something might turn up to ward off the 
impend in^: strusrgle. In the meantime, two Con- Lincoln 

r ■, . . .,.„,,. , anxious 

federate commissioners arrived in Washington, and for peace, 
sought an interview with the President, for the pur- 
pose of adjusting friendly relations between the United States 
and the Confederate government. But President Lincoln in- 
formed them that he could not receive them except as citizens 
of the United States. 

The Confederate government manifested no real desire for 
peace. While talking peace for the purpose of 
gaining time, it was actively preparing for war, 
seizing and arming forts, raising and equipping for war. 
soldiers, and firing the Southern heart to resist 
the Federal government. It was granting commissions to 



Secession- 



266 LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRATION. 

officers who had been educated at the expense of the people 
of the United States, and who had taken an oath to defend 
the Constitution and government. 

Finally, on the 21st of March, the Federal government, 
finding that it would be folly to delay action any longer, 
resolved to provision and reenforce Fort Sumter ; to adopt vig- 
orous measures to suppress the rebellion; to collect and equip 
a fleet of war vessels as rapidly as possible and to send them 
to the Southern States, under sealed orders. 

The Confederate government, always thoroughly informed of 

every intended movement by the United States, was resolved 

to anticipate the reenforcement of Fort Sumter by 

immediately assuminsr the offensive. On the 12th 

Fort Sumter. ■' « 

of April, General Beauregard, commander of all 
the forces in and around Charleston, demanded the surrender 
of the fort; and, on Major Anderson's refusal, he opened fire 
from a great number of heavy guns. The 
little garrison replied with vigor, until the 
ammunition was exhausted and the fort in 
ruins. The bombardment was continued for 
thirty-four hours, when Major Anderson was 
compelled to surrender, and was allowed to 
march out with all the honors of war. The 
United States vessels of war lying outside 
the harbor were unable to render the least 
assistance. 

In the beginning of the Civil War the Confederates made 
two great mistakes. The first was the declaration of Vice 
President Stephens that ^'slavery was the corner- 
Firing on g^Qj^g ^£ ^^ Confederate Republic ; " and the second 

the stars , i • r i i i • 

and stripes. ^^'^^ ^^ adoptiou 01 the stars and bars instead of 
the stars and stripes. A real republican form of 
government based on human slavery was simply an impossi- 
bility. Neither France nor England, nor any other enlightened 
European government, dared to acknowledge the independence 
of a slave republic. Napoleon III. and the English Tories de- 




COMPROMISES OFFERED. 26/ 

sired the independence of the Southern States, but feared to 
help them as France helped the United States during the Rev- 
olutionary War. When the news of the firing on the American 
flag reached the North, the submissive patience of a great 
people, which the "fire eaters" had mistaken for cowardice, 
was completely exhausted. Indignation and wrath filled the 
hearts of the vast majority in the free States. Democrats 
and Republicans vied with each other in their eagerness to 
punish those who had dared to fire on the American flag. 

From 1800 to i860, and even to the time of the adoption of 
the amendments to the Federal Constitution, the history of the 
United States is, to a very great extent, the his- 
tory of the slavery question. Legislation by the ^^^ union 
general government was largely molded by the slave- 
holders; and even the Mexican War was forced and waged for 
the purpose of extending slave territory. The great statesmen 
of the country clearly foresaw the impending struggle. Clay 
tried to ward it off by his compromises; and Webster prayed 
that the Union might not be destroyed in his day. Far-seeing 
statesmen felt that the great crime fastened on the Republic 
by Great Britain in 16 19 could only be washed out in blood. 
Lincoln said that the nation could not endure half free and 
half slave ; and Seward declared that the conflict between the 
two forces was irrepressible. Even the churches were split 
into proslavery and antislavery. Each tortured the Bible for 
texts to prove that human slavery was right or wrong. Con- 
scientious and religious men, born and reared in the South, 
believed in slavery as a divine institution; a similar class in 
the North considered it a covenant with hell. 

The admission of California as a free State, the result of 
the troubles in Kansas, and the election of Abraham Lincoln, 
revealed to the able and astute statesmen of the South that 
they could no longer rule the Federal government; and hence 
they were determined, if they could, to take the slave States 
out of the Union, to accept no more compromises, and to fight 
for what they deemed their independence. 



268 LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRATION. 

Even Lincoln's submission, which went ahnost as far as 
Buchanan's, could not satisfy them. They fired on the flag of 
their country. They were hungry for the war. At last the 
North shook itself like a sleepy giant, roused by the blows 
received at Fort Sumter, and determined to give the cotton 
States all the war they wanted. In the beginning of the ter- 
rible contest, as the sequel will show, the nimble South struck 
the powerful but awkward North blow after blow, until the 
latter learned to use its great strength to advantage ; and then 
it choked the South into absolute submission, and destroyed 
human slavery forever on this continent. 

On April 15, Lincoln issued a proclamation calling on the 
several States to furnish seventy-five thousand militia to sup- 
press the rebellion. The free States responded 
... with great enthusiasm; but the slave States which 

soldiers. o ' 

had not yet seceded treated the call as an outrage 
against the sovereignty of the States, asserting that there was 
no power in the Constitution to coerce a State to remain in the 
Union. 

The first troops to reach Washington were from Penn- 
sylvania. On the i8th of April several companies passed 
unmolested through Baltimore; but next day the 6th Massa- 
chusetts, in passing through the same city, were fiercely assailed 
by a mob of Secessionists numbering ten thousand men. Pav- 
ing stones and brickbats were hurled from the house-tops, and 
revolvers were fired at the soldiers as they marched through 
the streets. Not until three of their number were killed and 
eight wounded did the troops fire into the mob. 

The mayor of Baltimore and the governor of Maryland 
requested the President to find another route to Washington 
than that through their State. In the meantime, the Seces- 
sionists had destroyed telegraphic communication with the 
North, thus partially isolating the Federal government from 
its supporters. The legislature of Maryland met, and voted 
to remain in the Union; and on the 13th of May, General 
Benjamin F. Butler established himself in Baltimore. The 



SECESSION OF THE SOUTH. 269 

possession by the North of this border State was of great 
importance in the prosecution of the war for the Union. 
Before the end of May a large Northern army was established 
on the banks of the Potomac. 

Two days after Lincoln's call for troops Virginia passed 
an ordinance of secession, and immediately set on foot expe- 
ditions, previously planned, for the capture of the 
arsenal at Harpers Ferry and the navy yard at y^rinia^ 
Norfolk. The Federal officer in command at the 
former place partially destroyed the United States property, 
and retreated to Chambersburg. The Norfolk Navy Yard 
contained property of enormous value. It contained, besides 
munitions of war and naval stores, the Merrimac^ the Cumber- 
land, the Gennanfown, the Plyjuouth, the Raritan and many 
other vessels. These the Confederates resolved to capture. 

Captain McCauley, the commandant, perceiving that he could 
not resist the superior force sent against him, ordered all 
the ships scuttled except the Cuinbe}'laiid. Captain Paulding 
arrived at Norfolk with a force of six hundred men on board 
the Faianee, to supersede McCauley, and save the United States 
property; but he was too late to effect anything, as the vessels 
were sunk, or sinking, and the guns rendered useless. The 
navy yard was seized by the Secessionists, and afterwards offi- 
cially handed over by Virginia to the Confederate government. 
Virginia ratified the ordinance of secession by an immense 
majority. 

West Virginia runs north almost to Lake Erie, and sepa- 
rates to a great extent the Western from the Middle States. It 
was, therefore, incumbent on the Federal govern- 
ment to cut off this territory from the Confederacy. ^"* 
Its people were loyal to the Union, and resolved adl^tTed 
not to be dragged out of it. A convention met at 
Wheeling, May 13, and passed resolutions against the secession 
of Virginia; and a second convention, June 11, was held, at 
which it was unanimously determined that West Virginia should 
be set apart as a new State. As such, Jan. 26, 1863, it was 



2/0 LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRATION. 

admitted into the Union by a vote of both houses of Congress, 
and approved by the President. 

President Lincoln, April 27, issued a proclamation declar- 
ing a blockade of the Southern ports. He called for an addi- 
tional force of forty-two thousand volunteers to serve 
reparation ^^^ three vears, and ordered the formation of ten 

for war. *' ' 

new regiments to be added to the regular army. 
General Robert Patterson collected a large force of Pennsylva- 
nians at Chambersburg. General George B. McClellan was 
made a major general, and placed in command of the Depart- 
ment of the Ohio ; and General John C. Fremont, to whom a 
similar rank was given, was assigned to the Department of the 
West. 

Tennessee at first by a large majority voted against seces- 
sion ; but after the firing on Fort Sumter, the legislature, May 
6, passed an ordinance of secession which was sub- 

Secession of . , , , , i . , 

Tennessee, fitted to the pcoplc, and apparently sanctioned. 
North However, there is no doubt that the majority of the 
Carolina, and people werc strougly in favor of the Union. East 
r ansas. -pgj^j-^ggggg^ ij]^g Wcst Virginia, was never under the 
influence of slavery, and was therefore strongly opposed to 
secession. But the voice of her inhabitants was not heard, nor 
were her votes counted; and thus a loyal State was virtually 
dragged out of the Union by the proslavery leaders. The 
case of North Carolina w^as nearly similar to that of Ten- 
nessee. At first the State was in favor of the Union ; but the 
disunion party, which was the governing party, passed an ordi- 
nance of secession. May 20. The same precisely was done 
in Arkansas. The legislature first voted against, then for, 
secession. Eleven of the fifteen Southern States had now 
withdrawn from the Union. 

The four border States attempted to preserve a position of 
neutrality. Delaware and Maryland were held with a strong 
hand by the Federal government; and Kentucky and Missouri 
became for a time the theater of war, and suffered severely, 
no matter which party was, for the time being, in the ascen- 



ATTITUDE OF THE BORDER S7'ATES. 27I 

dant. The opposing forces are now face to face, and ready 
to begin the most destructive, deadly, and gigantic civil war 
since the Thirty Years' War in Germany. 

For the purpose of being near the scene of action, and of 
obtaining all the aid possible from the border States, the 
Confederate government was removed from Mont- 
gomery to Richmond, Va. East Tennessee was -^"itudeof 

^ -^ the border 

loyal to the Union. Kentucky and Missouri con- states, 
tained many active and determined Confederates, 
who were never able to coerce their States into secession. 
The lines between the North and the South were rapidly and 
firmly drawn. Southern merchants refused to pay Northern 
debts. All intercourse between the two sections was com- 
pletely stopped. 

Even in the border States, where neutrality was supposed 
to exist, United States stores of all kinds and munitions of 
war were seized without scruple, and turned over to the Con- 
federates. United States property to the amount of many 
millions of dollars had been stolen in every State from Texas 
to Virginia. In Missouri an extra session of the legislature 
was convened, May 2, for the purpose of handing over to Gov- 
ernor Jackson, who strongly sympathized with the Secession- 
ists, the entire control of the militia, and all the financial 
resources of the State. Accordingly, the United States arsenal 
in the western part of the State was seized, and used to arm 
and equip the Confederate forces under General Price. 



CHAPTER XLII. 



Lyon 

at 

St. Louis. 



THE CIVIL WAR. 

" Civil wars strike deepest of all into the manners of the people. They vitiate 
their politics ; they corrupt their morals ; they pervert even their natural taste and 
relish of equity and justice." 

Events of i86i. 

Lyon was a native of Connecticut, and a graduate of West 
Point. A true soldier and an ardent patriot, he quickly per- 
ceived the importance of holding the large city of 
St. Louis, where he was then stationed, a captain 
in the Federal service. Accordingly, on the night 
of April 20, he promptly removed the stores and 
munitions of war to Springfield, 111. He armed a consider- 
able body of German loy- 
alists, which, added to the 
regiments already raised, 
mainly by the influence 
of Frank P. Blair, con- 
stituted an army of six 
thousand men. With this 
body of troops Lyon 
marched out of the city, 
surrounded the Confeder- 
ates, and demanded their 
surrender. He captured 
twelve hundred prisoners, 
with all their arms and 
ammunition. 

The Secessionists of St. 

Louis were so enraged that 

they murdered several Germans in cold blood. For two or 

three days the city was in danger of destruction by a mob of 

272 




McClellan. 



EVENTS OF 1861. 2/3 

citizens. General Harney, in chief command of the United 
States forces, entered into a compact with the Confederate 
general, Sterling Price, for the purpose of restoring tran- 
quillity in the State. But as this was only a pretext to gain 
time to enable the Secessionists to carry out their plans, 
Harney was promptly superseded by Lyon, who had been 
raised to the rank of brigadier general. Governor Jackson 
then issued a proclamation calling for fifty thousand militia 
to protect the State from what he called an invasion. 

As Nathaniel Lyon, with the aid of the loyal Germans, had 
saved the important city of St. Louis for the cause of the 
Union, so General McClellan, by a short and able 
campaign, had prevented West Virginia from fall- McCieiian's 
ing into the hands of the Confederates. General ^^"^p^'^"^" 

* West 

Robert E. Lee, who had been assigned to the chief Virginia, 
command of all the Confederate forces, was resolved, 
if possible, to expel the Union troops, and to restore to Vir- 
ginia the territory which he thought of right belonged to it. 

General McClellan, in command of the Department of the 
Ohio, arrived at Grafton on the 23d of June, and issued procla- 
mations condemning the guerilla warfare conducted by the 
Confederates, and exhorting his own troops to abstain from 
pillage and outrage. He was determined to drive the Confed- 
erate generals, Pegram and Garnett, from their intrenched posi- 
tions, the former at Rich Mountain, and the latter at Laurel 
Hill. Rosecrans was ordered to attack Pegram, who was com- 
pelled to surrender with his whole force of six hundred men. 
General McClellan then entered Beverly, and forced Garnett 
to retreat, and the latter, in a vain effort to rally his men, was 
shot and killed. Robert E. Lee now took command in person 
of a combined army of twenty thousand men, with the determi- 
nation to expel the Unionists; but he was soon recalled to other 
duties, and West Virginia remained loyal throughout the war. 

General Butler, who had been a lawyer and politician of 
some repute, was placed. May 22, in command of an army of 
fifteen thousand men, mostly raw recruits, at Fortress Monroe. 

HUNT. U.S. HIST. — 18 



2/4 ^-^^^ CIVIL V/AR. 

Opposed to him were Generals Huger and Magruder, with a 

force of twelve thousand Confederates. Some runaway slaves 

having entered Butler's camp, claimed protection 

Butler at , , . , • , • 

Fort Monroe ^^'"'^^ their masters, who tried to regain possession 
of them. But Butler, with the craft of his original 
profession, declared that since Virginia had become a foreign 
nation, waging war against the United States, and since 
slaves were considered property by their owners, this property 
was therefore " contraband of war. " This was a^ most happy 
and ingenious solution of a difficult question. Afterwards, 
throughout the war, colored refugees were called contra- 
bands. 

Butler fought two little skirmishes, the one at Little Bethel, 
and the other at Big Bethel, in which, owing to mismanage- 
ment, the Union forces were defeated with the loss 
defeats ^^ ^^^^ promising young officers, Major Theodore 
Winthrop and Lieutenant John T. Greble. The 
Confederates then retreated to Yorktown. Shortly afterwards 
Butler was superseded by General Wool. 

It was the main purpose of each side in the war to capture 
the other's capital. Hence Richmond and Washington were 
as strongly fortified as possible. When the latter was pro- 
nounced absolutely safe from capture by the Confederates, the 
politicians, who knew nothing of the art of war, raised the 
insane cry of "on to Richmond." In spite of General Scott's 
opinion to the contrary, a forward movement was 
Richmond " ^^^&^*^ ^Y ^^^^ Federal government. With the ex- 
ception of one thousand regular soldiers, the Union 
army consisted of militia and raw recruits; and these, however 
brave, do not make troops that will stand firm under fire. 
They need constant drilling, and actual service. This the 
veteran hero of Lundys Lane knew much better than any 
lawyer in the War Department. 

The Confederate force was divided into two armies. The 
larger, under Beauregard, was stationed along the line of Bull 
Run, which was crossed by several fords and a stone bridge. 



EVENTS OF 1861. 2/5 

The smaller was under Joseph E. Johnston; and he so placed 

his army of nine thousand men that he could watch 

the operations of General Patterson, who com- campaign. 

manded eighteen thousand troops, chiefly Pennsyl- 

vanians. Patterson was expected to hold Johnston in check 

while General McDowell marched against Beauregard. 

The plan of campaign of the Union army was to march to 
Fairfax Court House, then suddenly turn southward, and occupy 
the enemy's line of communication. On the i6th of July the 
Federal army moved in four divisions, under Generals Tyler, 
Hunter, Heintzleman, and Mills. McDowell, from the nature 
of the ground, finding himself unable to turn the right flank of 
the Confederate army, spent two days in reconnoitering. On 
the 1 8th of July General Tyler encountered the enemy at 
Blackburns Ford, across the Bull Run, but so strongly guarded 
that after a sharp cannonading he was obliged to retire to his 
camp at Centreville. McDowell's army lay in 

1 111 ,1 1 Battle of 

camp on the 19th and 20th; and early on the morn- g^jj ^^^ 
ing of July 21 the celebrated battle of Bull Run, 
or Manassas, was fought. " It was one of the best-planned 
and worst-fought battles of the war." The two armies being 
composed mainly of raw recruits, the result depended upon 
which side would stand firmest under fire. The Confederates 
fought on ground of their own choosing, and the Federals 
were forced to attack. The Union defeat, however, may be 
attributed, in great measure, to the fact that Patterson allowed 
Johnston to deceive and outgeneral him ; so that at the critical 
moment the latter slipped away and joined Beauregard, who 
had been virtually defeated. A panic then seized the Federal 
army, which fled pellmell into Washington. Had not the 
Confederates also been panic-stricken they might have cap- 
tured Washington. One good result followed: the "on to 
Richmond " shriekers were silenced for a time.^ 

1 Much space has been given to this battle for several reasons. It taught the 
lesson that brave men without discipline are very poor soldiers, that statesmen, 
editors, and lawyers are not generals, and that war is both an art and a science. 



2/6 THE CIVIL WAR. 

The day following the disastrous battle of Bull Run, General 

George B. McClellan was called from West Virginia, where he 

had been very successful in driving out the Confed- 

Mccieiian ^^..^^^^ ^o take Command of the Army of the Poto- 

commander •' 

in chief, mac ; and on General Scott's retirement at his own 

request, McClellan was made commander in chief. 

He instantly set to work to reorganize the army, reduce it to 

discipline, send home the three months' men, and place it in 

good fighting condition. 

In the meantime, Congress assembled in extra session, July 4, 

and passed several bills of great importance. One called for 

five hundred thousand volunteers; another author- 

at"wcn-vf ^^^^ '^^^ Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon P. Chase, 
to borrow $250,000,000; another confiscated the 
property used for insurrectionary purposes by persons engaged 
in rebellion, and emancipated all slaves employed in the cause 
of secession. Resolutions were also passed declaring it no 
part of the duty of Federal soldiers to capture and return fugi- 
tive slaves, and asserting that the sole cause of the war was to 
preserve the Union and the Constitution. 

General Lyon organized a force of two thousand men, and 

marched out to meet the enemy, whom he found at Booneville, 

and completely routed. Jackson then fled eighty 

Lyon and i^^^gs toward the southwest, and received a reen- 

Missouri forcement of nearly four thousand men, under the 
command of General Price. This force was pur- 
sued by General Lyon twenty-three miles farther south. Here 
the Confederate force was confronted by Colonel Franz Sigel, 
at the head of one thousand five hundred troops, who, finding 
his men greatly outnumbered, slowly retreated in good order, 
using his artillery with great effect, and inflicting considerable 
damage on the enemy. 

The Confederates being reenforced by a large body of 
troops from Arkansas, Sigel continued his retreat with mas- 
terly skill, until he joined his force with that of General 
Lyon, then at Springfield. The majority of the people of Mis- 



EVENTS OF 1861. 2/7 

souri being in favor of the Union, the legislature met and 
formally deposed Governor Jackson and his associates, and 
elected Gamble, a Unionist, in his place. 

General Lyon, learning that the Confederates in great force 
were advancing against him in two columns, one from the 
south, and the other from the west, resolved to attack the 
former before it could form a junction with the latter. Ac- 
cordingly, he marched out of Springfield with a small army 
consisting of five thousand five hundred infantry, four hun- 
dred cavalry, and eighteen guns. He encountered 
McCulloch, at the head of a superior force, and victoV 
completely routed him. Returning to Springfield, 
he prepared to meet the much stronger army under Price, who 
was stationed along \\'ilsons Creek, about ten miles south. 
Lyon then sent Sigel out with a small force to attack Price in 
the rear, while he himself led the attack in front. 

At first the Confederates fled before Sigel; but afterwards, 
discovering how small his force was, they attacked him with 
overwhelming numbers, so that two thirds of his troops were 
destroyed. In the meantime, Lyon repeatedly attacked the 
Confederate army, and Avas as often driven back by greatly 
superior numbers. The brave Lyon was twice wounded, but 
refused to leave the field. He received a third 
wound, which proved mortal. Shortly after the ^ 
death of Lyon, the enemy, who had begun to 
retreat, reappeared, and a fierce engagement took place along 
the whole line. At length, for lack of ammunition, the Fed- 
erals were forced to retreat. Taking into account the great 
disparity in numbers, the Union army covered itself with 
glory. 

Although General John C. Fre'mont had been appointed to 
command the Department of the West in May, he 
did not reach his headquarters until the latter part Fremont's 
of July. He found Missouri in a frightful con- Missouri, 
dition, overrun with guerillas and desperadoes of 
every description, the State groaning under the weight of two 




2^^ THE CIVIL WAR. 

governments, each claiming to be legal ; and, worst of all, the 
three months' soldiers clamoring for their pay, and anxious 
to reach their homes. Fre'mont found his 
whole effective force to consist of twenty- 
three thousand men, which was increased 
by the middle of September to fifty-six thou- 
sand. He began at once to fortify the 
most important positions, St. Louis, Cape 
Girardeau, Rollaster, and Jefferson City. 
He then issued his celebrated proclama- 
tion emancipating the slaves of all men 
Fremont found in arms against the government of 

the United States. 
President Lincoln, fearing to lose the sympathy and services 
of Union men in the border States, wrote a private letter to 
Fremont, requesting him to modify his proclamation so as to 
be in accord with the bill passed by Congress, August 6. This 
Fre'mont refused to do. He respectfully asked the President, 
as commander in chief, to make such changes as he thought 
necessary. The proclamation was accordingly modified by the 
President. 

Fremont's difficulties at this time w^ere almost insurmount- 
able. Lexington was held by a small force under Colonel 
Mulligan, who, after an heroic and obstinate defense, was 
compelled to surrender. Owing to bad roads and heavy rains 
the commanding general was unable to assist him. General 
Grant at Cairo and General Anderson in Kentucky, were call- 
ing loudly for reenforcements. At the same time Fre'mont 
received an order to forward five thousand men to Washing- 
ton. Being joined by Pope, Hunter, and McKinstry, Fremont 
assumed the aggressive, and gained several slight 
Fremont advantages over the Confederates; and just as he 
seded ^"^^^ prepared, in spite of every difficulty, to drive 
Price, whom he had outgeneraled, out of the State, 
he was superseded by General David Hunter. But before 
Hunter could achieve anything of note, General Henry W. 



EVENTS OF 1861. - 279 

Halleck was appointed to the command of the Department 
of Missouri. 

The Confederacy was composed almost entirely of an agri- 
cultural people who had known little, and cared less, for manu- 
factures; and hence, for many important articles 
necessary for the successful prosecution of the war, Blockade 

,11 1 , 1 ■ r °^ South- 

they were compelled to rely on the productions of gj.n ports, 
foreign nations — chiefly of England and France. 
It was therefore incumbent on the Federal government to 
establish and maintain as perfect a blockade of the Southern 
ports as possible under the circumstances. The coast line 
from Virginia to the western part of Texas is exceedingly 
long, and the United States navy was at that time very small. 

At this period there is no doubt that the French emperor, 
Louis Napoleon, and the British aristocracy, strongly sympa- 
thized with the South, and ardently desired the success of the 
Confederacy. They wished to see the Great Republic rent in 
two. But they were restrained from forming alliances offen- 
sive and defensive with the government at Richmond by fear 
of the effect on the mass of the common people in both coun- 
tries, who hated slavery and loved liberty. 

Owing to the inefficiency of the blockade, many privateers 
made their way to the ocean, and preyed on Northern mer- 
chantmen, in spite of the efforts of the Federal government to 
prevent them. One of the principal outlets for the "blockade- 
runners " was Hatteras Inlet, the chief entrance to Pamlico 
Sound. Toward the end of August, General B. F. Butler, in 
command of eight hundred soldiers, and Commander Silas 
Stringham, with a large naval force, sailed from Fortress Mon- 
roe, and reached the Confederates strongly forti- 
fied at the Inlet. After a fierce bombardment by Hatteras 
the Union forces, the Confederates to the number p^^^ 
of seven hundred, were compelled to surrender un- Royal, 
conditionally. The secret being well kept, great 
numbers of privateers returning with their prey fell quietly 
into the hands of the Federals. A second expedition much 



28o THE CIVIL WAR. 

Stronger and better equipped than the first, under the com- 
mand of Thomas W. Sherman, and the naval part of it 
under Commander Samuel F. Dupont, was sent against Port 
Royal, S.C, which, after a fierce contest lasting five hours, 
fell into the hands of the Federal forces. 

Captain Wilkes of the United States steamship San Jacinto 

overhauled the British ship Trent, which had on board the 

Confederate emissaries. Mason and Slidel, who were on their 

way to France and England to effect, if possible. 

Capture of ^j-g^^-^^g gf alliance with those two powerful na- 

, ^,., , tions. Wilkes demanded their surrender, which the 

and Shdel. ' 

captain of the Tre/it was powerless to refuse. They 
were immediately transferred to the San Jacinto, taken to the 
United States, and imprisoned in Fort Warren in Boston Har- 
bor. Although this act of Wilkes was justifiable under the 
proclamation of Queen Victoria, which forbade English ves- 
sels from carrying officers and dispatches for either party in 
the war, yet England immediately demanded their surrender. 
There was great excitement in both countries. Many ardent 
Americans advised the government to refuse the demand of 
Great Britain. But William H. Seward, the Secretary of State, 
very wisely surrendered Mason and Slidell and their secretaries, 
rather than to give the British aristocracy an excuse for forming 
an alliance with the Confederacy. 

As previously mentioned, the Confederates had failed to fol- 
low up their victory at Bull Run, and had fallen back to Cen- 

treville and Manassas, where they remained face 
Balls Bluff ^*^ ^^^^ with a large army under the command of 

General McClellan, which occupied Fairfax Court 
House. On the 20th of October, General Charles P. Stone, 
in command of the upper Potomac, sent Colonels Devens and 
Lee across the river to surprise a Confederate camp in the 
direction of Leesburg. No sooner had they landed than they 
were assailed on three sides by the Confederate force concealed 
in a piece of woods. The Union force fell back to the bluff, 
where they were reenforced by Colonel Baker, who assumed the 



EVENTS OF 1861. 28 1 

command. A desperate struggle was carried on for several 
hours, in which Baker was killed, and the P'ederal force lost 
one thousand men. This disaster was nearly as bad as that of 
Bull Run and tended to discourage all lovers of the Union. 

William Tecumseh Sherman, one of the greatest generals the 
world has ever known, succeeded General Anderson in Ken- 
tucky. But owing to various causes, he was unable 
to accomplish anything of note. He was the first Sherman 
to realize the immensity of the contest between the Grant. 
North and the South, and the enormous amount of 
money and the vast number of soldiers it would require to 
suppress this greatest of civil wars; and for his free expression 
of opinion, he very nearly lost the opportunity of serving his 
country. He was charged with insanity and for some time 
was distrusted by those in authority. 

General Ulysses S. Grant, the most successful of all the 
Union generals, and the most resolute commander in either 
army, possessed the fine quality of silence even under great 
provocation. Slowly and with great difficulty these two men 
attained the command of armies. They were often in danger 
of supersession or dismissal. Fortunately for them they were 
remote from the political intrigues at Washington. 

The first we hear of General Grant is in connection with the 
important post at Cairo which he commanded. The ex-bishop. 
General Polk, was in command of a large force on the other 
side of the Mississippi at Belmont. Grant, with a 
small force, moved down the river, crossed over, J^^ 

' ' ' Belmont. 

and boldly attacked a force much larger than his 
own. He carried the enemy's camp by assault, captured 
several of their guns, and drove the Confederates over the 
bluff into the river. But in the moment of victory, Polk sent 
a reenforcement of five thousand men, and turned his heavy 
guns at Columbus against the Union army. Grant fought his 
way successfully to his own camp, after inflicting a loss of eight 
hundred men to the enemy, while he lost but half that number. 
In this brilliant action Grant had his horse shot under him. 



282 THE CIVIL WAR. 

Toward the close of 1861, the contest in the west was chiefly 
a guerrilla warfare, victory sometimes inclining to one side and 
sometimes to the other. But no matter which side was tempo- 
rarily in the ascendant, the people of the border States were 
sure to suffer. Except the battle of Pea Ridge, won by Gen- 
erals Curtis and Sigel, nothing of importance occurred bearing 
on the great struggle for the Union. It is almost impossible, 
as it is unnecessary, to follow the many little combats and skir- 
mishes which occurred at this time in the States of Missouri, 
Kentucky, and Tennessee. 

As many, if not a majority, of the people of North Carolina 

were loyal to the Union, the Federal administration, in the 

hope of regaining the State, and of acquiring a 

Burnside ^^^^ foothold in the rear of the Confederate force in 

in North . . ^ , _. ... 

Carolina. Virginia, fitted out, January 13, an expedition con- 
sisting of eleven thousand soldiers under the com- 
mand of General Burnside, and a fleet of thirty-one gunboats 
mounting ninety-four guns under the command of Commodore 
Goldsborough. Early in February they captured Roanoke 
Island, and most of the garrison of three thousand men were 
taken prisoners. The Confederate gunboats were set on fire 
to prevent their falling into the hands of the Unionists. One 
by one the forts defending New Berne were captured. The 
town was garrisoned by five thousand soldiers, who, after one 
hour's severe fighting, fled to Goldsborough. The Federal 
forces captured sixty-nine cannon and five hundred prisoners. 
The campaign was CQmpletely successful. 

The Merriinac^ a United States frigate, had been scuttled 
and sunk at the time of the evacuation of Norfolk by its com- 
mander. The hull being little injured, the Con- 
^^^ ^ federates raised her and covered her sides and deck 
victories. '^^'^^^'^ ^ shield of railroad iron sloping upward like 
the roof of a house. She seemed a most formidable 
structure, with her great iron prow several feet under water. 
On the 8th of March, the Confederate monster, heavily armed 
with one hundred pound Armstrong guns, proceeded from 



EVENTS OF 1861. 283 

Norfolk to Newport News where the United States frigates 
lay at anchor. The broadsides from the frigates made no 
impression on the slanting roof of the Merrijnac^ nor were 
the Union batteries on the shore any more effective. The 
monster's iron prow struck and sank the Cu7nherla?id ; the 
Cofigress was run ashore, and after some hard fighting was 
compelled to surrender. 

The Merrimac then commenced to attack the Miimesota and 
the St. Lawrence ; but she was unable to approach within a 
mile of them, owing to the shallowness of the water. Hav- 
ing done all the damage possible, in the evening she returned 
to Norfolk. Next morning she renewed the attack against 
the Minnesota, and while firing away at the Union frigate, 
a little craft, whose deck was almost on a level with the sea, 
having a small round tower containing two guns, boldly threw 
herself between the combatants, and opened fire on the Merri- 
mac. This little vessel was constructed by the genius of John 
Ericsson, and was commanded by Lieutenant Worden. 

Now began the most singular naval combat on record. It 
was David and Goliath over again. The Merriitiac, in chan- 
ging her position to face this new and unexpected foe, went 
aground. The two vessels fought furiously, the 
shot from the Merrimac doing little damage, while '^^^ Mem- 
that from the Monitor made three holes in the Monitor, 
armor of the larger vessel. The Monitor was able 
to sail round and round her enemy, pouring in deadly dis- 
charges until the monster was in danger of sinking. Finally 
she was compelled to seek safety in flight. This was the last 
of the Merrimac. She never ventured to sea again. 



CHAPTER XLIII. 

THE CIVIL WAR — Continued. 

" He's truly valiant that can wisely suffer 
The worst that man can breathe, and make his wrongs 
His outsides ; to wear them like his raiment carelessly ; 
And ne'er prefer his injuries to his heart 
To bring it into danger." 

Events in the East, 1862. 

No other commanding general in either army has received 

so much praise and censure as George B. McClellan. By one 

party he has been denounced as disloyal to the Union, and by 

the other as the "Young Napoleon" of the war. Doubtless 

the truth lies between the two extremes. It can 

McClellan. . , . , , . - ,. . , , 

be said, without the fear of contradiction, that he 
was a thorough organizer; that he made out of raw material 
a splendid army; and that he was sincerely loved by the men 
whom he commanded. In following his campaigns the truth 
will be impartially told. 

The people of the North were impatient for a forward move- 
ment. They had grown tired of the reiterated statement, "All 
quiet along the Potomac." Finally, President Lincoln, early 
in 1862, issued an order for a forward movement of the armies 
east and west. The new Secretary of \\'ar, a lawyer named 
Edwin M. Stanton who had succeeded Simon Cameron, pre- 
pared a plan of campaign by which the army was to move 
forward in a direct line from Manassas Junction to Richmond. 
McClellan knew that every mile of this road was strongly forti- 
fied, and that he would be obliged to cross several rivers in 
face of a vigilant and active enemy. 

The plan adopted by McClellan and his lieutenants was 
to make the capital absolutely safe by leaving a force strong 

2S4 



EVENTS OF 1862. 285 

enough to repel any attack of the enemy ; to place a large force 
of observation at Manassas Junction, and then to transport 
the main body to Fortress Monroe. McClellan 

, ,.^ .,.,. . TT1 Plan of 

made his first mistake in laying siege to Yorktown, campaign, 
which was garrisoned by only ten thousand troops 
under General Magruder. Here he wasted a whole month, 
and thus gave the Confederates ample time to collect all their 
forces for the protection of Richmond. He, with sixty thou- 
sand men and one hundred guns, should have carried the place 
by assault. Magruder, choosing his own time, retreated slowly 
up the peninsula. 

At Jamestown, Hooker overtook the enemy, and alone for 
several hours he fought a desperate battle against vastly su- 
perior numbers, until reenforced by Kearny and 
Hancock. The Confederates were driven from . 

Jamestown. 

their intrenchments, and forced to retreat. 

From Yorktown to Richmond by the York River route the 
ground is full of swamps and morasses; and to add to the 
natural difficulty the season had been very rainy. The Union 
general was therefore compelled to construct miles of roads 
and several bridges. 

At length, toward the end of May, McClellan threw two 
corps comprising his left wing across the Chickahominy, 
near White Oak Swamp, while his center and right remained 
on the north side of the river. By this movement he exposed 
himself to be defeated in detail. Even then, so inadequately 
was Richmond defended, that the approach of the Federal army 
created such a panic that the people were making preparations 
to fly from the city. There is little doubt that a vigorous 
assault at this time would have carried the Con- 
federate capital and virtually ended the war. Seven Pmes 

•' and 

In the meantime, General Joseph E. Johnston pairOaks. 
had thrown a force of fifty thousand men into the 
intrenchments in front of Richmond. The Merrimac had been 
blown up about eight miles below the city; and this, with 
other obstructions, made it impossible for the Federal gun- 



286 



THE CIVIL WAR. 



boats to approach the Confederate capital. General Johnston 
made a bold and determined attack, May 31, upon the two 

corps on the south side 
of the Chickahominy. 
Two fiercely contested 
battles took place, one 
at Seven Pines, and the 
other at Fair Oaks; but 
neither was decisive. 
The Confederate general 
was wounded, so that for 
some time he was unfit 
for active duty. He was 
succeeded by General 
Smith who held the chief 
command for three days, 
when he was stricken with 
apoplexy. General Rob- 
ert E. Lee was then made 
commander of the Con- 
federate army of northern 
Virginia. It is thought 
that if McClellan had followed up these battles he could have 
captured Richmond. 

While these events were occurring before Richmond, the 
Confederate general, Thomas J. Jackson, commonly known as 
" Stonewall " Jackson, one of the most active and 
able officers produced on either side during the war, 
by a series of most brilliant movements, with only 
sixteen thousand troops under his command, managed to hold 
four armies in check, so that not one of them could be sent to 
IMcClellan who was constantly crying out for reenforcements. 
These armies, under McDowell, Shields, Fremont and Banks, 
amounted to sixty thousand men. Jackson attacked Banks, 
and drove him in hot haste down the Shenandoah Valley, and 
through Winchester. Banks never ceased his flight until he 




Lee. 



Stonewall 
Jackson. 



EVENTS OF 1862. 



287 




was twelve miles beyond Martinsburg. Jackson captured a 
large number of guns and prisoners. 

McDowell, Shields, and Fre'mont now placed their armies 
in such positions as to 
intercept and destroy the 
Confederate force before 
it could receive reenforce- 
ments, or effect its escape 
to Richmond. Fremont 
reached Strasburg, June i, 
to find that Jackson had 
passed through it a few 
hours before. Shields's 
and Fremont's joint forces 
were greatly impeded by 
swollen streams and burnt 
bridges. Being severely 
pressed by a superior force, 
Jackson ordered Ewell, 
commanding his rear guard 

of five thousand men, to halt and take a strong position at 
Union Church. Fremont's division reached Cross Keys, 
June 7, where a severe contest took place, in 
which the Confederates were successful. At Port 
Republic, Jackson attacked Shields's division, and 
drove it back five miles, capturing four hundred and fifty 
prisoners. The Union forces were then recalled to Washing- 
ton, and Jackson leisurely pursued his march to Richmond. 
So rapid were his movements in this brilliant campaign, 
that his troops received the epithet of "foot cavalry." 

Up to the end of June there had been several skirmishes 
between the two great armies, but nothing of im- 
portance until the 26th, when a strong Confed- Mechamcs- 
erate force under Stonewall Jackson attacked Fitz Gaines Miu. 
John Porter's corps at Mechanicsville. After a 
desperate battle, which lasted six hours, the enemy were de- 



' Stonewall " Jackson. 



Jackson's 
victories. 



288 THE CIVIL WAR. 

feated, and withdrew. The next morning McClellan ordered 
General Porter to fall back to Gaines Mill, in order to protect 
the bridges across the Chickahominy. Here Robert E. Lee 
brought two thirds of his entire army into action. To oppose 
this army of sixty thousand men, Porter had only thirty-five 
thousand. 

While this unequal contest was going on McClellan had 
sixty thousand troops unemployed on the south side of the 
river watching twenty-five thousand Confederates. In spite of 
desperate fighting by the Union soldiers, Porter was over- 
whelmed, and driven back by force of numbers. 
Savage 'pj-^g Union loss in this battle was about eight 
^ thousand. During the night the Federal army 

Oak Swamp, retreated to Savage Station, where it was attacked 
by Magruder, but without success. McClellan was 
now cut off from his base of supplies at West Point. The 
Federal force then fell back upon White Oak Swamp (June 
30), where the battle raged with unabated fury. McClellan's 
aim was to reach the James River, in order to secure the pro- 
tection and aid of the gunboats, and establish a new base of 
supplies. 

In the meantime, the principal Confederate generals, Lee, 

Jackson, Hill, Longstreet, and even Jefferson Davis 

en aean j^-j^gg|£ made the most strenuous efforts at Glen- 

Nelson Farm. ' 

dale and Nelson Farm to prevent McClellan from 
accomplishing his purpose. There was fierce and determined 
fighting on both sides. 

The Confederates maintained their assaults on Porter's corps, 
with the intention of destroying it before it could effect a junc- 
tion with the main body on the south side of the Chicka- 
hominy. Afraid of the possible escape of the Federal army, 
the Confederate generals strained every nerve to destroy it 
before it could reach the James River, where it would be under 
the protection of the gunboats. At last, on July i, the beaten, 
wearied, and exhausted army reached its assigned position on 
Malvern Hill, a plateau about a mile and a half long, pro- 



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THE CIVIL WAR. 

By Russell Hinman, C.E. 



mrr^" 



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F 

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11° Loniritude West of W; 



EVEXTS OF 1862. 



289 



tected from the enemy by several almost impassable ravines. 
But in spite of all difficulties, the Confederates again and 
again charged up the hill, and were again and 
again driven back with frightful loss. Darkness Battle of 

. „,, ,-r . Malvern 

put an end to the desperate fighting. Ihe Union ^111. 
soldiers had gained a splendid victory, and there 
is little doubt that IMcClellan could have carried Rich- 
mond by assault ; but instead of making the attempt, he 
ordered a retreat to 
Harrisons Landing. 
The North and South 
each found in the 
" Seven Days' Battles " 
"foemen worthy of 
their steel." 

On July 8, General 
Lee withdrew his army 
into Richmond, not 
daring to attack Mc- 
Clellan in his strong 
position at Harrisons 
Landing. General Mc- 
Clellan, in a letter to 
the civil authorities, 
threw the blame on the 
politicians at Wash- 
ington, who had pre- 
vented his receiving Davis. 
reenforcements. Gen- 
eral Halleck had been called from the west, and made com- 
mander in chief of all the armies in the field. He now 
ordered McClellan to transport his troops to Aquia Creek, 
to support a new movement against Richmond from a base 
on the Rappahannock. Against this order McClellan in vain 
protested. His army was transported without further moles- 
tation. 

HUNT. U. S. HIST. — 19 




290 THE CIVIL WAR. 

McDowell's, Fremont's, and Banks's corps, with all the 

troops that could be collected, were formed into an army of 

fifty thousand men, called the Army of Virginia, and placed 

under the command of General John Pope who 

°^^ ^ had done some good service under Halleck in 

campaign. ^ •, i • 

the west. Pope's purpose was to cover Washing- 
ton and cooperate with the Army of the Potomac, and then 
attack Richmond by the direct route. Lee, no longer fearing 
anything from McClellan, resolved to strike Pope before he 
could receive reenforcements from the Army of the Potomac. 

Pope issued his celebrated proclamation stating that "his 
headquarters would be henceforth in the saddle." On Aug- 
ust 8, he sent out General Banks, with a corps of eight thousand 
men, to occupy Cedar Mountain, and take up a strong position 
to oppose the advance of Stonewall Jackson. But Banks was 
too late. Jackson had already crossed the Rapidan, 

Banks's ^ud occupicd the heights of Cedar Mountain with 
^^^^* twenty-five thousand men so skillfully hidden, that 

Mountain. Banks, with his greatly inferior force, attacked the 
Confederates. As a result of the Union general's 
miscalculation, his corps was almost destroyed, three of his 
generals were w^ounded and one was taken prisoner. 

The cannonading was heard by Pope at Culpeper. He 
immediately ordered General Sigel to press forward to Banks's 
relief. But Jackson, having accomplished his purpose, rap- 
idly recrossed the Rapidan. The two armies now confronted 
each other on the banks of the Rappahannock. The whole 
Confederate army was concentrated to destroy Pope. While 
in this position. General Stewart made a bold dash to the 
right and rear of the Union army, and captured Pope's head- 
quarters, his dispatch book, and the baggage of his military 
family. Pope, learning that thirty thousand men from Aquia 
Creek were on their way to join him, determined to concen- 
trate his army at Warrenton Junction, and there give battle. 

Stonewall Jackson, on Aug. 26, passed around to the right 
and rear of Pope for the purpose of cutting off his communica- 



EVENTS OF 1862. 291 

tions with \A'ashington. To accomplish this result his '' foot 
cavalry" marched fifty-five miles in forty-eight hours, living, 
while on the march, on green corn. He destroyed 
great quantities of stores, and captured eight guns retrea" ^ 
and three hundred men. Pope was resolved, if 
possible, to intercept his retreat; but Lee, perceiving Jack- 
son's danger, sent Longstreet to his support. Their combined 
forces drove Ricketts from his position, and Jackson made 
good his escape through Thoroughfare Gap. 

On Aug. 29, McDowell and King retreated to Manassas 
Junction, There was some very severe fighting at Groveton 
and Gainesville, in which the losses were about even. On the 
30th, Pope renewed the battle by ordering General Fitz John 
Porter, who had failed to come into action the day before, to 
attack the enemy on the Warrenton turnpike. The 
attack, however, was feeble, and he was driven Second Battle 

of 

back in confusion. The Confederates then massed g^u ^^^^ 
their forces, and drove the Union army back to 
Centreville. It then crossed Bull Run unpursued. Pope had 
now an army of sixty thousand men, with which he awaited 
the attack of the Confederates; but they left him unmolested. 

On the morning of Sept. i, Jackson crossed Bull Run at 
Sudley Ford, and moved rapidly down to Fairfax Court House 
for the purpose of assailing the Union left. Amidst the 
roar of a terrible thunderstorm, a most desperate fight took 
place at Chantilly, in which the Federals were 
badly beaten, and Generals Stevens and Kearny chantiiiy 
were killed. Pope continued his retreat until he 
reached the defenses of Washington. Thus ended most inglo- 
riously a campaign which was begun with so much parade and 
pomposity — a campaign which cost the Union thirty thou- 
sand of its best soldiers and a great number of its able officers. 

At this time the danger of invasion, and even of the capture, 
of the capital was imminent. Disunion, and some said dis- 
loyalty, among the principal officers, and discouragement and 
want of confidence among the common soldiers, seemed to bode 



292 THE CIVIL WAR. 

disaster to the great republic. Pope accused some of Mc- 
Clellan's officers of rendering him only a half-hearted sup- 
port, and General Fitz John Porter of actual disobedience, for 
which Porter was court-martialed, and dismissed from the 
service — a most unjust sentence, under which he suffered for 
many years. The truth is, Pope was incompetent; and since 
he had been brought east by Halleck and Stanton, for the 
purpose of superseding McClellan, they were obliged to find 
a scapegoat ; and this they found in General Porter. 

Politics played an important part in this dangerous crisis of 

the w^ar. The administration had virtually removed — at least, 

it had degraded — • McClellan. It looked with a jealous eye 

on his popularity with the army. The antislavery men in the 

cabinet and elsewhere had no confidence in his fighting ability, 

and even doubted his loyalty; and yet, in this moment of 

extreme peril, when the very capital was in danger of capture 

— a capture which would have changed the whole aspect of 

the war — it was not Halleck nor Pope whom 

Restoration ^|^g administration called to save them, but the 

McClellan recently degraded McClellan. Lincoln, in spite 

of the adverse opinion of most of his advisers, 

requested McClellan to assume the chief command. 

Lee's effective army now amounted to only sixty thousand 

men; and yet wdth this force he undertook the invasion of 

Maryland, in the hope that he could so recruit his 

Lee's inva- ^j-j-j^y ^^ ^^ capture Baltimore, and cut Washington 

Maryland. ^^ froiii communication with the North. He issued 

a proclamation inviting the men of Maryland to 

join his standard; but he enlisted only about five hundred men. 

McClellan rapidly reorganized the demoralized armies in 
and about Washington into two eftective forces, one under 
Banks, to guard the capital, and the other to take the field 
under himself. McClellan moved slowly on the Maryland 
side of the Potomac in five parallel lines. He entered Freder- 
icksburg, which the Confederates had evacuated only two days 
before. Here an order of General Lee's fell into his hands, 



EVEXTS OF 1862. 293 

which showed that the object of the Confederates was to cap- 
ture Harpers Ferry, and that Jackson was already 
on his way to seize it. The Union general, instead ^^"^® °^ 

^ ^ South 

of trying to save Harpers Ferry, moved northwest- Mountain, 
ward toward Hagerstown, through the South Moun- 
tain range of hills, where a considerable battle was fought, 
Sept. 14, in which the Federal troops were successful. 

Lee's army was in great danger at this time; and had Mc- 
Clellan been able to move rapidly, he might have destroyed it 
before Jackson could have come to his aid. Jackson moved 
with his usual celerity to Harpers Ferry, which 
Colonel Miles held with about thirteen thousand Surrender 

of Harpers 

men. 1 he Confederate general opened fire on the Ferry, 
garrisop from Maryland and Bolivar Heights; and 
Miles surrendered his force, instead of holding this important 
position until relief could reach him. Had this inefficient 
officer held out for twenty-four hours, Lee's army, it is said, 
would have been destroyed. 

McClellan made no attack on the enemy until the afternoon 
of Sept. 16, thus giving the Confederate forces time to concen- 
trate on the west side of Antietam Creek, near the town of 
Sharpsburg. When, therefore, the battle began, McClellan 
met the entire Confederate army, except A. P. Hill's division, 
which Jackson left behind to receive the surrender at Harpers 
Ferry. General Hooker (who had received from his soldiers 
the nickname of " Fighting Joe ") was ordered by McClellan 
to make a long detour to the right, for the purpose of turn- 
ing the enemy's left. Toward night Hooker and Jackson lay 
down to rest within a short distance of each other. The next 
morning, Sept. 17, the furious battle began on the Union right, 
with varying fortune. The scene of action was a cornfield 
and a plowed field. At first Jackson was driven 
back; then being reenforced by Hood's division, . ^. , 

' ^ J Antietam. 

Hooker was forced to yield the ground he had 

gained. At this critical moment the Union general ordered 

Doubleday to send him his best brigade, Hartsuff's. The 



294 ^-^^ CIVIL WAR. 

Federals thus reenforced drove the Confederates from the field 
to the woods. Again were the Confederates reenforced, and 
again they captured the bloody cornfield. But the Federal 
batteries prevented the farther advance of the enemy. 

General Franklin now appeared at the head of a fresh corps, 

and ordered two divisions, under Slocum and Smith, to charge 

the enemy, which they did in splendid style, driving them from 

the open space and through the woods. They held 

'^r^ ^" the ground thus gained to the end of the battle. 

victory. o » 

Burnside was in command of the extreme left of 
the Federal line. He made several feeble attempts to carry 
the bridge in front of him, and attack the Confederate right. 
Finally he received a peremptory order to carry the bridge at 
all hazards. The Union troops then charged gallantly, and 
carried the bridge; but the advantage came too late. A. P. 
Hill's division coming into action drove Burnside's troops 
down the hill, where they were safe under the Union batteries 
until night put an end to the carnage. 

The Confederates refused to renew the fight, and Lee with- 
drew his army across the Potomac. Considering the demoral- 
ized condition of the Union forces, and the fine condition 
of the Confederate army, McClellan deserves great praise for 
the victory. He has been blamed for not following up Lee's 
retreating army; but that was impossible, for his men were in 
a most wretched condition for lack of clothing and other sup- 
plies, which, it is said, the Secretary of War purposely held 
back in order to find an excuse for McClellan's removal. 

On the 30th of September, Lee-fell back to Winchester with 

a formidable army. On the 6th of October, McClellan was 

ordered to cross the Potomac, to pursue and to 

McClellan g-^,g battle to the enemy. But he disobeyed be- 

superseded , . • i r • ^ 

b Burnside causc his army was not equipped tor a winter 
campaign. Finally, he moved his army toward 
Warrenton ; while Lee left his headquarters at Winchester, 
and marched in the same direction on the opposite side of the 
Blue Ridge Mountains. McClellan was just about to attack 



EVENTS OF 



295 




the Confederate army when he was suddenly removed from his 
command, and ordered to report at Trenton, N. J. He was 
succeeded by General Burnside, who reluctantly assumed the 
position, confessing his inability to lead so large an army ; 
yet he forthwith attacked the Confederates at Fredericksburg. 

This was hardly a battle; 
it was a slaughter of the 
Union troops. Burnside was 
not able to bring a quarter 
of his army into action. Lee 
had burned the bridges across 
the Rappahannock, and forti- 
fied the heights above Freder- 
icksburg; and when the Union 
army reached the river there 
were no pontoons to enable 
them to cross. Lee had raised 
hi"s army to eighty thousand 
men, whom he placed behind 
strong fortifications. When 

the pontoons arrived, Lee permitted them to be laid without 
molestation, thus inviting the Union army into a death-trap. 

The Federal army crossed over on the nth and 12th of De- 
cember. It had previously bornbarded Fredericksburg until 
it was a mass of ruins. The Union forces made an assault 
on Dec. 13, across the plain and up Maryes Heights in three 
massive columns, but subject to a terrible fire from 
tier above tier, rising to the crest of the hill. At ^^"^^ °f 

' ^ Fredericks- 

the foot of this hill they were stopped by a stone ^urg. 
wall, behind which the Confederate infantry rained 
upon them a deadly fire of musketry. Two thirds of Meagher's 
brigade fell charging up the heights. Hooker's division suf- 
fered fearfully. No soldiers could have fought with greater 
valor, but owing to bad generalship their valor was in vain. 
The Confederates gained a complete victory; and Burnside 
withdrew his army to the north side of the Rappahannock, 



Burnside. 



CHAPTER XLIV. 

THE CIVIL WAR — Continued. 

'' Hail Columbia ! happy land I 
Hail ye heroes! heaven-born band I 
Who fought and died in freedom's cause. " 

" I want a hero : an uncommon want, 
When every year and month sends forth a new one." 

Events in the West, 1862. 

The Civil War in the east ended as it began, with the two 
great armies ahnost in the same positions, on or near the Rap- 
pahannock River. On the whole, however, the Confederates 
had been the more successful; for the military operations of 
1862 closed with the great victory of Fredericksburg. But the 
contest in the west showed very different results ; for important 
victories by the Union commanders had a direct bearing on the 
preservation of the Republic. 

In order to understand the operations of the different armies, 
it will be necessary to point out the several military depart- 
ments into which the great Department of the ^lissouri was 
divided. It has already been stated that General H. W. Hal- 
leck was appointed to supersede General Fremont 
V' ^*^^, in this important position, with his headquarters 

departments. r i ^ i 

at St. Louis. His department extended from the 
Cumberland Mountains westward to Iowa, and southward to 
Arkansas. Of course, it was necessary to divide such an exten- 
sive territory into smaller departments, as follows: one at 
Cairo under the command of General U. S. Grant, and another, 
called the Department of the Ohio, under General Don Carlos 
Buell, with headquarters at Louisville. Rosecrans commanded 
in West Virginia. When, as commander in chief, Lincoln 
issued an order that all these armies, including the Army of 

296 



EVENTS OF 186X 



297 



the Potomac, should move simultaneously, on the 220! of Feb- 
ruary, against the common enemy, some were ready and some 
were not. 

Grant, with his usual promptitude, was ready to move nearly 
a month before the time set apart. The Confederates held a 
strong position between Bowling Green on the east and Colum- 
bus on the west; and between these two towns rolled the waters 
of the Tennessee and the Cumberland, with Fort Henry on the 
former and Fort Donelson on the latter. Grant perceived that 
if these two forts were captured, the road to Nashville would 
be opened, and the Confederates would be forced to abandon 
Kentucky. He obtained from Halleck a reluctant consent to 
make the trial after Admiral Foote proved how it would pre- 
vent a Confederate movement against Buell. On the 30th of 
January, Grant moved forward with an army of seventeen thou- 
sand men and several gunboats, under Foote. General Tilgh- 
man, seeing that it was useless for his garrison of 
twenty-eight hundred men to contend against such p^^.^ y^^^^ 
a force, sent away all his soldiers, except about one 
hundred, to Fort Donelson, and only held the fort long enough 
to give them time to escape. Fort Henry, with its general, 
ninety men, and all its munitions of war, surrendered, Feb. 6, 
to General Grant. 

Fort Donelson, about eight miles farther south, on the 
Cumberland River, was more formidable and more strongly 
garrisoned than Fort Henry. General Floyd, who had been 
Secretary of War under Buchanan, and Generals Pillow and 
Buckner were in command, with a force of twenty-one thou- 
sand men. Grant ordered Admiral Foote to bring the gun- 
boats up the Cumberland by way of the Tennessee and the 
Ohio. The Union general then marched from Fort Henry 
with about fifteen thousand men; but he was quickly recn- 
forced, until he had under his command twenty-seven thousand 
troops in excellent condition. The attack made by the gun- 
boats on Feb. 14 failed, some of them being badly damaged, 
particularly the flagship on which Admiral Foote was wounded. 



29« THE CIVIL WAR. 

The weather became intensely cold, causing much suffering 
among the Union troops. On Feb. 15, while Grant was on 
a visit to Admiral Foote, the Confederates made a desperate 
attempt to escape. They made a fierce assault on McCler- 
nand, who commanded the Union right, and drove him back 
in confusion; but at this moment Thayer's brigade was thrown 
between the Confederates and the retreating division. The 
enemy then fell back within their intrenchments. 

General Grant, on his return from the gunboat, perceiving 
how anxious the Confederates were to escape, ordered a gen- 
eral assault, in which General Smith penetrated 
Capture ^j^^ encmy's works. Floyd and Pillow, in the 
Doneison. meantime, had fled in the night with a portion of 
their forces, and left Buckner to bear the odium 
of the surrender. On the morning of Feb. 16, the Confed- 
erate general wrote to know what terms he would receive from 
Grant should he capitulate. Grant's reply was : ^^ No terms 
except unconditio?ial surrender.^'' This was the first solid vic- 
tory gained by the Union army since the commencement of 
the war — a victory which caused the destruction of one of 
the Confederate armies, amounting to twenty thousand men. 

Grant's splendid victory at Fort Doneison compelled the 
Confederates to evacuate the strong line from Columbus to 
Bowling Green, and also the important city of Nashville. 
From Columbus the enemy fell back to New Madrid; but 
finding that they could not hold this position, they destroyed 
their cannon and retreated to Island Number Ten. Here 
Pope was joined by Admiral Foote with seventeen gunboats. 
Both army and navy then commenced a fierce bombardment 
against this strongly fortified position, which lasted 
Capture of three wccks without accomplishing anything. Pope, 

Island Num- .. ,..,. ri> ^ • r 

ber Ten pcrcciving the futility of this attack in iront, cut a 
canal twelve miles long across the head of the pen- 
insula, and attacked the enemy in the rear. The Confederate 
army of seven thousand men, with all their munitions of war, 
surrendered. The capture of Island Number Ten enabled the 



EVENTS OF 1862. 299 

Union general to carry his troops within forty miles of the 
important city of Memphis. 

Just about this time Grant was deprived of his command 
and he was virtually placed under arrest. Whether Halleck 
was jealous of General Grant's great victory at Fort Donelson, 
or whether he favored the victor of Island Number Ten, it is 
difficult to say. Perhaps he was actuated by both motives; 
for when he became commander in chief at Washington, he 
immediately placed General Pope in command of the army 
of Virginia, for the purpose of superseding General McClellan. 
On March 4, Halleck appointed General C. F. Smith to the 
command of the army of the Tennessee, thus superseding 
Grant, who immediately sent in his resignation, 
which was not accepted. Halleck had accused danger. 
Grant of disobedience of orders. But the latter 
amply proved that communication between himself and his 
chief had been cut, and, therefore, that there was no disobe- 
dience, and no just cause for his removal. Thus, by the 
double dealing of Halleck, the country came near losing the 
services of the greatest general that the North possessed. On 
the 17th of March he was restored to his command. 

When Grant reassumed command of the army, he found 
about half of it on the east bank of the Tennessee, at Savan- 
nah, one division at Crumps Landing, and the remainder at 
Pittsburg Landing. The enemy, under General Albert Sidney 
Johnston, was concentrated at Corinth, a most important posi- 
tion, as it commanded railways connecting the Mississippi 
with the Confederate States. 

General Grant was waiting for the army of the Ohio, con- 
sisting of forty thousand veterans, under the com- 
mand of General Buell, to reenforce his own army shiioh. 
of thirty-eight thousand men, when the army of the 
Tennessee was suddenly and impetuously attacked at Shiioh, 
Tenn., by the entire Confederate force from Corinth. Grant 
was on the field at eight o'clock in the morning, and was 
everywhere in the thickest of the fight, encouraging his troops 



lOO 



THE CIVIL WAR. 



to hold their ground; but in spite of all his efforts many of 
the raw soldiers fled to the shelter of the bluff at Pittsburg 
Landing. Nearly two thousand of Prentiss's division were 
captured, and the Union army retreated about a mile. 

General William T. Sherman, in command of the right wing, 

held his ground against all 
odds until night ended the 
contest. It was in this 
battle that Sherman proved 
himself a hero. Although 
twice wounded, he would 
not leave the field; and 
such was the desperate 
assault against his troops, 
and such were his heroic 
efforts to save the day, that 
he had several horses shot 
under him. Had he yielded 
to superior numbers, the 
army of the Tennessee 
would have been destroyed. 
General Buell brought his 
army into action on the 
morning of April 6; and the combined forces drove the enemy 
steadily back, more than recovering the ground they had lost 
the day before. 

The Confederates rapidly retreated behind their intrench- 
ments at Corinth. General Johnston was killed, and the com- 
mand devolved on General Beauregard. This great battle 
may be called a Union victory, for the reason that the Con- 
federates were put to flight. The losses were very heavy on 
both sides. 

Shortly after the battle of Shiloh, when Halleck found that 
Grant had broken the backbone of the Confederate power in 
the west, he left his headquarters at St. Louis and placed 
himself in command of all the forces in front of Corinth. He 




Sherman. 



EVENTS OF 1862. 



301 



gathered all the troops within reach. He ordered Pope to 
join him with his army of twenty-five thousand men. Halleck 
had now an army of one hundred and twenty thousand soldiers, 
most of whom had seen service. Beauregard had less than 
half that number. The commanding general found fault witli 
everything he saw. Grant was reduced to the most 
humiliating position — that of second in command, ^^"^^^^* 

^ ^ ' Corinth. 

without duties or authority, and liable to be snubbed 
if he ventured to give an opinion. On account of the demor- 
alized condition of the Confederates, it is quite certain that 
the Union army could have carried Cor- 
inth by assault. 

Had Grant been in command, the 
greater part of Beauregard's army would 
have been captured or destroyed. But 
Halleck was one of those "scientific 
generals" who believed that battles 
could be won without bloodshed. 
Hence he commenced to move slowly 
against the enemy by throwing up m- g^QH 

trenchments, and by conducting what 

was virtually a siege. In the meantime, Beauregard, per- 
ceiving that he could not hold Corinth against 
such superior numbers, quietly withdrew his can- ^^iieck 

commander 

non and stores of all kinds, and last of all his j^ ^-^ief. 
entire army, and left Halleck the empty town and 
fortifications, mounted by quaker guns. Such was the barren 
victory that caused Secretary of War Stanton to call Halleck 
to Washington as commander in chief. 

W^hile these events were occurring in northern Mississippi, 
Admiral Farragut, with a fleet consisting of six sloops of war, 
sixteen gunboats, twenty-one mortar schooners 
and other vessels, started out to capture New ^ "^'"^^ 

>- Farragut. 

Orleans, the wealthiest and most important city of 

the Confederacy. A few days afterwards General Benjamin 

Y . Butler, with an army of fifteen thousand men, sailed for 




302 



THE CIVIL WAR. 




g battery 
railroad 



the same city, for the purpose of cooperating with the naval 
force. 

Thirty-five miles below New Orleans were Forts Jackson 

and St. Philip, which 
mounted together one 
hundred guns. In addi- 
tion to these the enemy 
had thrown a chain boom, 
consisting of old hulks 
and cypress trees, across 
the river. Above the 
boom the Confederates 
had a naval force of fif- 
teen vessels, one of which 
was an ironclad, and an- 
other a floatin 
covered with 
iron. The Union schoon- 
ers, under the command 
of Commodore Porter, 
carried each one gun throwing a two hundred and fifteen 
pound shell. Farragut experienced great difficulty in getting 
his larger vessels over the bar at Southwest Pass. 
The schooners were towed to their places, and 
moored to the banks; and their masts were cov- 
ered with trees, to prevent the enemy from recog- 
nizing them from the surrounding woods. The 
Unionists then commenced a heavy bombardment of the 
forts, which lasted for six days and nights, but without 
much effect. 

A council of war was called; and it was determined to 
run past the forts in the night. During the night of the 20th 
of April, Lieutenant Caldwell cut loose one of the hulks of 
the boom. In the meantime, the Confederates sent down the 
current burning rafts and lighters covered with all kinds of 
inflammable material, with the intention of setting the Union 



Farrajut. 



Bombard- 
ment of 
Forts Jack- 
son and 

St. Philip. 



EVENTS OF 1862. 



303 



fleet on fire. These made the night almost as clear as the 
day; so that Farragut could expect little from the darkness. 
On the night of the 23d of April the Union fleet, in three di- 
visions, sailed through the opening, and immediately attacked 
the Confederate vessels, destroying every one of them before 
the action was finished. The loss on either side 
was very small. New Orleans was now at Far- .. ^^ ""^^ ° 

-' New Orleans. 

ragut's mercy. The Confederate troops, under 
Lovell, abandoned the city, and the brave Farragut took pos- 
session on April 28, and turned over the municipal government 
to General Butler. The 
Federal fleet now com- 
manded the Mississippi 
from its mouth to Vicks- 
burg, which was fortified 
so strongly as to be deemed 
impregnable. However, 
on the 28th of June, Far- 
ragut ran past the Con- 
federate batteries without 
serious injury to any of 
his vessels. Thus the 
Confederate supplies from 
Texas were completely cut 
off. 

The guerrilla chieftains 
Forrest and Morgan, in the 

rear of the Federal army at Corinth, were inflicting serious 
injury on the Unionists of Kentucky and Tennes- 
see, and preparing the way for General Bragg, at . ^^^.^ ^ 
the head of an army of forty-five thousand men, Kentucky, 
whose objective point seemed to be the wealthy 
city of Cincinnati. General Buell, at the head of twenty-five 
thousand men, marched from Corinth in a line almost parallel 
to that of Bragg, each striving to be the first at Louisville, on 
the sQuth bank of the Ohio. Bragg captured Frankfort, the 




Bragg. 



304 



THE CIVIL WAR. 



State capital, from which he issued a pompous proclamation, 
calling on the people to join their brethren in the battle for 
"freedom." This invasion of Kentucky was simultaneous with 
Lee's invasion of Maryland, and both had a similar object in 
view. 

In the meantime, Buell moved on rapidly to Louisville, and 
saved Cincinnati. Here he was heavily reenforced; and it 
was now Bragg's turn to retreat. He had, however, accom- 
plished the main object of his invasion. He had captured 
immense stores of all kinds. It was said that his train was 
forty miles long. His retreat was leisurely conducted; and 
when the Federal army pressed him too closely, 
on the 8th of October, he turned round and fought 



Battle of 
Perryville. 



Buell at Perryville. Neither general brought more 
than a third of his army into action. Although technically 
the Federals were victorious, for the reason that Bragg contin- 
ued his retreat to Chattanooga, 
the battle was really a Con- 
federate victory. The L^nion 
loss was nearly four thousand, 
while that of the Confederates 
was two thousand five hundred. 
The Federal government was 
so dissatisfied with General 
Buell 's conduct, that he was 
removed, and General Rose- 
crans was appointed in his 
place. 

When, after the fall of Cor- 
inth, Halleck was made com- 
mander in chief, with head- 
quarters at Washington, Grant 
was left at the head of the armies in the west. Bragg con- 
ducted his retreat to the mountains of East Tennessee, where 
it would have been folly to pursue. General Rosecrans was 
ordered to join Grant's army at Corinth. Grant's forces were 




Rosecrans. 



K VENTS OF 1862. 305 

Stretched in a long line from this town to luka, commanding 
the Memphis and Charleston Railroad. Since the Confederate 
victories of the early spring and summer were completely nul- 
lified by the Union successes in the west, it became 
a matter of great importance to the enemy to cap- Operations 
ture Corinth and force the Federals back to the the west 
line of the Ohio. Hence Generals Price and Van 
Dorn were determined to break through the line of the Federal 
army. Price suddenly attacked luka, garrisoned by a Union 
force under Colonel Murphy, who basely surrendered without 
a blow. General Ord from the west and Rosecrans from the 
south were ordered by General Grant to march against and 
immediately attack the enemy. 

As soon as Ord heard the firing from the east, he was directed 
to move against the Confederate flank; but a strong wind was 
blowing the sound of the artillery in another direction, and 
although he listened all day for the cannon, he heard noth- 
ing. Rosecrans fought the enemy alone from two o'clock 
until night closed the action. The Union troops were suc- 
cessful ; and in the morning, when the combined 
forces of Ord and Rosecrans were ready to ad- ^ ,^° 

•' luka. 

vance, they found luka abandoned. The enemy 
made several attempts to recover Nashville, which was held 
by General Negley. Andrew Johnson rendered most efficient 
service as military governor in holding Tennessee in the Union. 

The Confederates perceived that in order to recover Tennes- 
see and capture Kentucky, the Union forces must be driven 
out of Corinth. General Grant had long seen that if Vicks- 
burg, the enemy's last stronghold on the Mississippi, could be 
taken, the backbone of the enemy in the west would be broken. 

Leaving Rosecrans in command at Corinth, Grant moved the 
greater part of his army to Holly Springs, for the purpose 
of moving against Vicksburg. Rosecrans had only a force of 
twenty thousand men, while the combined armies of Van Dorn 
and Price amounted to more than double that number. But the 
Unionists had the advantage of strong fortifications. In the 

HUNT. U. S. HIST. —20 



306 THE CIVIL WAR. 

beginning of the assault the Confederates carried several of 

the works ; but when they reached the inner fortification, they 

received a withering fire and fell back in confusion. 

c^ iiTth ^^^^ Federals gained a complete victory, by which 
Tennessee was saved for the Union. 

The defeats at luka and Corinth in the west, together with 
Lee's defeats at South Mountain and Antietam in the east, 
seemed to have greatly discouraged the Confederates. All 
their victories in Virginia in the spring and summer of 1862 
were to a great extent nullified by the progress of the western 
armies. The Confederate government was, therefore, deter- 
mined to capture Nashville, and thus force Grant to fall back 
to Kentucky. Hence Bragg was ordered to move rapidly from 
Chattanooga and surprise Nashville. But Rosecrans was there 
before him, and marched out of the city to give him battle. 
On Dec. 29 the Union general discovered the enemy in a 
strong position on the bluffs across the Stone River. 

On the 30th, Rosecrans arranged his army in three divisions. 
On the morning of the 31st a most desperate attack was made 
against the right of the Union army, which fell back with 
severe loss. General Philip H. Sheridan, who commanded a 
brigade of this division, after a stubborn contest was driven 
back on the Union center, which held its ground with great 
tenacity. On New Year's Day both armies rested. Rose- 
crans spent the time in strengthening his position. 

On the 2d of January, Bragg massed his forces under Breck- 
inridge and Polk, and made a desperate attempt to drive the 
Union troops from their new position. But Rose- 
Batteo crans, with his batteries posted on a hill which 

Stone River. ^ 

commanded the whole field, swept the advancing 
Confederates with such a withering fire that they reeled, 
turned, and fled in utter disorder. On the 3d a storm raged 
so furiously that the battle was suspended; and Bragg, con- 
cluding that "prudence was the better part of valor," re- 
treated toward the South. The loss was heavy on both sides. 



CHAPTER XLV. 

THE CIVIL "WAR — Continued. 

" He is the freeman whom the truth makes free 
And all are slaves beside." 

" The mold of a man's fortune is in his own hands."' 

Events of 1863. 

Moral events are always greater than physical events. In 
point of fact, the moral creates the physical. The extension of 
slavery was the real cause, and the election of Lincoln but the 
shallow excuse, for secession. Secession was commenced more 
for the purpose of intimidating the people of the 
North, who were peaceable and commercial, than Slavery the 

cause of 

for the purpose of waging a deadly war for four secession, 
long years. The Southern planters did not appre- 
ciate the stubborn strength of the Northern "mudsills," as they 
were pleased to term the working people of the North. 

When the Civil War broke out. President Lincoln and his 
able advisers were anxious to hold the border States, and were 
therefore disinclined to give offense to the slaveholders therein, 
who were still loyal to the Union. In the beginning of the con- 
test, as previously stated, Butler invented a happy method of 
disposing of the captured slaves by treating them as "contra- 
band of war." 

The people of the North began to perceive that it was an 
error to permit the South to employ slave labor to supply their 
armies with food, and thus allow the able-bodied whites to 
fill their exhausted ranks. General David Hunter, May 9, 
1862, declared the slaves free in the States of South Carolina, 
Georgia, and Florida. But as the time was not yet ripe, the 
President rescinded this declaration. 

307 



308 THE CIVIL WAR. 

Lincoln was as strongly opposed to slavery as Fremont or 
Hunter, or any other general or statesman in the United States. 
But he wisely and patiently waited until the army and the 
people were educated up to the point where they could both 
perceive that slavery and rebellion must fall together. In the 
meantime, Congress had passed several bills touching the sla- 
very question, which had been approved by the President. 
Slavery had been prohibited in the Territories, and abol- 
ished in the District of Columbia. The iniquitous 
Emancipa- jTuoritive Slavc Law had been repealed. Finallv, 

tion procla- ... '' 

mation. September, 1862, Lincoln issued his celebrated 
proclamation abolishing slavery in all the States 
that should be in rebellion on the ist of January, 1863." 
When the day appointed arrived, the President carried into 
effect the greatest act of his administration, perhaps the great- 
est act of the nineteenth century, the emancipation of four mil- 
lions of slaves. 

The Confederates, having suffered severely by regular warfare 
in the west, and having utterly failed to withdraw Kentucky 
from the Union, commenced a cruel and useless system of 
guerrilla fighting, under Morgan, Forrest, and many 
warfare Other officers, which was simply brigandage, de- 
structive of property and life, and having no effect 
upon the cause for which the Secessionists were struggling. 
These "raids," as they were called, are not worthy a place 
in history. 

Leaving General Grant for the present to prepare his plans 
for the capture of Vicksburg, let us turn to the east, to 
see how it fared with the brave but unfortunate 
Potomac ^ -^^"^y of the Potomac. Shortly after Burnside's 
defeat at Fredericksburg, General Joseph Hooker 
was appointed to the chief command of the army. This ap- 
pointment was nearly as great a mistake as the appoint- 
ment of Burnside ; and it proved that a brave fighter may be 
but a poor general. When the spring of 1863 opened. Hooker 
found himself at the head of a magnificent, ^.ririy of one 




EVENTS OF 18G3. 309 

hundred thousand infantry, thirteen thousand cavalry, and ten 
thousand artillery, with Howard commanding the right, Slo- 
cum the center, and Meade the left. The Confederate army 
under Lee scarcely amounted to half that 
number. 

On the 27th of April the Federal gen- 
eral sent Stoneman, with a large force of 
cavalry, to destroy the railroads in the 
rear of the enemy's army, and thus cut 
off communication with Richmond. At 
the same time he ordered General Sedg- 
wick to cross the Rappahannock with 
twenty-five thousand men, and carry Hooker. 

the Heights of Fredericksburg by assault, 

while he. Hooker, would throw the main body of his army 
across the river, above the town, and might thus compel Lee 
to fall back toward Richmond, or else to attack the Union 
army in its chosen position. 

Lee left a small force to guard the Heights of Fredericks- 
burg, and suddenly concentrated fifty thousand men against 
Hooker's army. On May 2, 1863, Lee detached Stonewall 
Jackson, . with half his force, to turn Howard's flank. This 
active Confederate general made a detour of fifteen miles, 
and, suddenly emerging from the woods under cover of which 
he had effected this dangerous movement, he attacked the 
Union right wing at Chancellorsville while the men were 
getting ready for dinner. Howard had not even 
sent out pickets, so sure was he that there could Battle of 

1 1 r 1 rr^i ^ Chancellors- 

be no attack from that quarter. Ihe greater part ^jjj^^ 
of his corps was driven from the field panic- 
stricken, and with severe loss. The enemy made several des 
perate attacks on the center, but were driven back each time by 
Berry's and Birney's divisions. The slaughter on both sides 
was frightful. Sickles sent to Hooker for reenforcements ; but 
the latter had been stunned and made insensible by a cannon 
ball which had struck a post against which he was leaning. 



3IO THE CIVIL WAR. 

In the meantime, Sedgwick had carried the Heights of Fred- 
ericksburg, and then placed his army in Lee's rear. But the 
Confederate general instantly sent a larger force against him, 
and the contest was continued until night set in. The next 
morning, May 3, the Confederates drove Sedgwick across the 
river with the loss of over five thousand men. On the same 
evening Hooker recrossed the river, and took up his old posi- 
tion at Falmouth. 

The Union loss in this desperate battle was seventeen thou- 
sand men, that of the Confederates considerably less. But 
they had lost one man, Stonewall Jackson, shot 
death" ^ accidentally by his own soldiers, and according to 
his own orders to fire on any approaching enemy, 
whose death, Horace Greeley said, was worth to the Union 
army a reenforcement of forty thousand men. Lee and Jack- 
son won this victory by superior generalship; Hooker was 
defeated for lack of it ; for with a vastly superior army he 
was unable to bring more than a quarter of it into battle at 
any one point. 

About a month after the defeat of Hooker at Chancellors- 
ville, General Lee, at the head of a reorganized army of one 
hundred thousand men, resolved to make one more desperate 
effort " to conquer a peace " — a peace which would destroy the 
great Republic. His plan was evidently to capture 
Baltimore and perhaps Philadelphia, and thus cut 
off Washington from communication with the North. His 
army was divided into three great corps, always within sup- 
porting distance of each other, under his best generals. Hill, 
Longstreet, and Ewell. A part of the Confederate army 
moved northwestward along the northern bank of the Rappa- 
hannock. 

On the nth of June, General R. H. Milroy, commanding 
seven thousand five hundred men, was ordered to fall back 
from Winchester to Harpers Ferry; but failing to obey, he 
was overwhelmed and his force destroyed by Ewell. On 
June 15, General Ewell reached Chambersburg, Pennsylvania; 



EVENTS OF 186S. 



31 



Lee's second 
invasion. 



and shortly afterwards he was joined by the remainder of 
the army of invasion under Hill and Longstreet. 
Swell's corps was then advanced to Kingston, 
within thirteen miles of Harrisburg. In the mean- 
time, Hooker, while covering Washington, marched almost 
on parallel lines with the enemy, and occupied the town of 
Frederick. Several cav- 
alry engagements had 
taken place along the line 
of march, but they were 
of little importance to 
either side. 

In front of the enemy 
General Hooker was super- 
seded, on June 28, by Gen- 
eral George S. Meade. A 
portion of Ewell's army 
reached York, upon whose 
inhabitants the Confeder- 
ate general levied a large 
sum of money. Meade 
advanced his army toward 
South Mountain, threaten- 
ing: Lee's communications. 

The Confederate commander in chief ordered Hill and Long- 
street to march to Gettysburg, and directed Ewell to. join them 
at that place. General Meade, discovering the 
intentions of the enemy, ordered General Reynolds, 
with two corps, to occupy the range of hills near 
Gettysburg before the Confederates could reach them. This 
he did, most gallantly driving the enemy before him; but, 
unfortunately, at this critical moment Reynolds was mortally 
wounded. 

Doubleday succeeded him in command, and was supported 
by Howard. At one o'clock Ewell's army reached the field, 
and drove the Unionists through the streets of Gettysburg 




Meade. 



Meade's 
army. 



312 



THE CIVIL WAR. 




-^.^' 



'^^^-'^ 



until they reached Cemetery Hill, where they were rallied. 
Sickles arrived on the field, and took position on Howard's 

left. General Meade, who was 
ten miles distant, hearing of 
these events, sent Hancock 
forward to take command. 
The Confederates made sev- 
eral desperate attempts to 
carry Cemetery Hill, but were 
as often repulsed, with great 
loss. Hancock reported the 
condition of affairs to Meade, 
who immediately joined the 
main army, determined to give 
the enemy battle the next day. 
On the morning of the 2d of 
July the Union line extended 
nearly five miles, from Cemetery Hill in the middle, along a 
row of heights, in the form of a horseshoe. Howard held the 
center, Slocum the right, and Hancock and Sickles the left. 
General Sedgwick, with the Sixth Corps, did not reach the 
field until 2 p.m. Ewell commanded the Confederate left. Hill 
the center, and Longstreet the right. Toward even- 
The field j^g Lcc Ordered General Longstreet to attack the 
^ ^ ^^' left, under Sickles, for the purpose of flanking 
Cemetery Hill. Sickles was hurled back with 
severe loss. A fierce struggle then ensued for the possession 
of Round Top, an eminence on the left. Sickles was struck 
on the leg by a cannon ball, and carried off the field; but 
Sykes and Hancock came to the rescue, and drove the enemy 
back, recovering all the ground which had been previously lost. 
Ewell, on the left, drove Slocum back, and gained some of his 
rifle pits. 

In an effort to retake them, on the morning of July 3, a 
desperate conflict was maintained for six hours. Finally, the 
Confederates were driven back with severe loss. Thus General 



EVENTS OF 1863. 313 

Lee had tried to break both wings, and failed; then he deter- 
mined to attack the center. He brought one hundred and 
twenty-five guns in front of Hill and Longstreet, and concen- 
trated their fire on Cemetery Hill. At two o'clock this terrible 
battery poured forth a terrific fire of shot and shell, which was 
replied to by one hundred Union guns. Under cover of this fire, 
at four o'clock Lee ordered a grand charge against Hancock's 
Second Corps, which occupied the hill. Here General Han- 
cock was severely wounded, and Gibbon succeeded to the 
command. 

The Confederates advanced three lines deep. The first line 
was simply destroyed as though the earth had opened and 
swallowed it; the second line marched straight through their 
killed and wounded, over the Union rifle pits, to the guns, 
whose gunners they bayoneted on the spot. The Union guns 
on the western slope of the hill swept the Confed- 
erates, until, broken and dismayed, they fell back, decisive 

11 • 1 • T 1 1 • 1 victory at 

whole regiments surrendering. Lee made his last Gettysburg, 
desperate charge; but his brave soldiers were 
hurled to death against the solid rock of Northern intrepid- 
ity. The Federal army gained the greatest pitched battle of 
the Civil War — the greatest ever fought on the American con- 
tinent. Never again could the Confederates make an attempt 
to invade the North. 

If every little skirmish, raid, or battle were described, the 
military movements east and west w^ould fill many volumes; 
and the reader's mind would be so confused by such a multi- 
plicity of small events and useless dates that he could derive 
but little profit from the perusal. Therefore, we intend to 
relate only such battles as had a direct bearing on the result 
of the Civil War. 

It may be here stated that one of the most fortunate events 
in favor of the Union cause was the calling of Hal leek to 
Washington, because it left as commander of the western 
army General Grant, a man of great ability, and a strategist 
of the highest order, whose military genius was comprehensive. 



314 THE CIVIL WAR. 

and able to include a large extent of country. He clearly 
perceived that the capture of Vicksburg — the great Confed- 
erate stronghold on the Mississippi — would give 

Designs on . , , i r i 

vicksbur ^^^ Unionists Complete command or that river, 
from its source to its mouth, and cut off all sup- 
plies for the enemy from Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. 

Vicksburg is peculiarly situated on a bend of the Missis- 
sippi. The river here takes a sudden turn toward the north- 
east for about fifteen miles, and then turns backward toward 
the southwest, thus forming a peninsula two miles wide. The 
town is near the bend, strongly fortified on the land side and 
on the river side by immense batteries. Its natural and arti- 
ficial defenses made it the strongest fortification in the United 
States. All the Confederate forces at this time in the State of 
Mississippi were under the command of General Pemberton. 

General Grant, in consultation with General Sherman, 
planned a campaign by which the latter was to organize an 
army of thirty thousand men, and, in conjunction with Admiral 
Porter, assail Vicksburg, while Grant held Pemberton outside 
the town. But the plans of the Union general were brought to 
naught by the treason or cowardice of Colonel Mur- 
Murphy's pi ^ ^j^^ bascly Surrendered Holly Springs to the 

base '^ *" 

surrender. Confederate general Van Dorn. Supplies of all 
kinds to the value of $2,000,000 fell into the hands 
of the enemy. This was the same Murphy who had disgrace- 
fully surrendered luka. The Confederate cavalry cut Grant's 
communication so effectually that for one week he was not 
heard of in the North. 

Sherman soon made the discovery that Vicksburg was impreg- 
nable by water; and learning that there was a gar- 
.Capture of j-jgQ^ Qf f^yg thousand men at Arkansas Post, he 

Arkansas i i r i • i • i i • i 

Post. proceeded forthwith to capture it; and this he 
accomplished without much loss. Grant perceiv- 
ing the impossibility of maintaining so long a line of com- 
munication, changed his plan so that he could receive supplies 
by the Mississippi River. 



EVENTS OF 1863. 



315 




To add to the many dififtculties of the Union army, the win- 
ter of 1862 and 1863 was noted for heavy rains and continual 
high water on all the rivers 
and bayous; so that it was 
almost impossible to find 
dry land on which the 
troops could encamp. It 
was, therefore, useless to 
commence operations 
against Vicksburg until 
March; and in the mean 
time the Union commander 
must keep his soldiers busy 
during the winter months, 
to prevent sickness and dis- 
couragement among them. 
With this end in view Grant 
commenced digging a chan- 
nel two miles wide across Johnston. 

the isthmus. 

The Confederate government, aroused to the danger, sent 
General Joseph E. Johnston to command all their armies in 
the southwest. Grant collected most of his forces at Millikens 
Bend, March 25, and, after having tried many ways to capture 
Vicksburg, finally determined, with the aid of the gunboats 
and transports under Admiral Porter, to run past the Con- 
federate batteries, cross over to the east side of the Missis- 
sippi, and attack the stronghold on that side. By the aid of 
darkness and forage barges Porter was able to run his fleet, 
with slight loss, past seven miles of batteries. On 
April 30, General Grant effected a landing nearly victories', 
opposite Bruinsburg, with an army of thirty-three 
thousand men, which was ultimately increased to seventy-one 
thousand. He then marched northeasterly, capturing Port 
Gibson and Grand Gulf, taking many prisoners, and suffering 
little loss. He next marched in the direction of the Big Black 



3l6 THE CIVIL WAR. 

River. At Raymond a battle was fought in which the Union- 
ists were completely successful. 

Grant's great aim was to keep Pemberton and Johnston 

apart, and beat them both in detail. In an attempt to 

unite the Confederate forces a battle took place 

Battle of ^^ Champions Hill, May i6, in which Pemberton 

Champions ^ . , 

Hill. was completely routed and driven into Vicksburg, 

where Grant and Porter proposed to lock him up 
and ultimately starve him out. 

Grant now resolved to attack Jackson, the capital of the State 
of Mississippi. To accomplish this purpose he cut loose from 
his base ; and issued to each soldier two days' rations on 
which he must subsist five days. Johnston, after a slight con- 
test, evacuated the town, losing fifteen hundred men and several 
guns. Sherman received orders to destroy Jackson as a rail- 
road center. 

On May i8 the regular siege of Vicksburg began. On the 
morning of the 19th the investment was complete. Sher- 
man, commanding the right of the Union army, was north of 
Vicksburg; McPherson, commanding the center, was east; 
and McClernand, in command of the left wing, was south. 
Reenforcements poured in from the North so rapidly that 
Grant was able at the same time to face Johnston on the east, 
while he held Pemberton within his fortifications 
Investment ^^ ^^ wcst. Grant made two unsuccessful as- 
Vicksburg. saults to Carry the town; one on the 19th, and the 
other on the 2 2d. In the latter, some of the Union 
troops had actually planted their colors on the enemy's ram- 
parts. These assaults convinced Grant that Vicksburg could 
only be taken by a regular siege. His line from Haines 
Bluff to Warrenton was fifteen miles long, while that of the 
Confederates was only seven. 

For seven weeks the town was completely environed by the 
army on the land side and the navy on the river side. Finally, 
on July 3, Pemberton sent one of his chief generals with a flag 
of truce to learn what conditions the Union general would grant 



EVENTS OF 1863. 317 

in case of surrender. As at Fort Donelson, Grant demanded 
the surrender of the town and army. After some vain at- 
tempts on the part of Pemberton to obtain better 

^ . Surrender of 

terms, he yielded, and surrendered Vicksburg, its vicksburg. 
whole army of thirty-two thousand men, its bat- 
teries, amounting to one hundred and seventy-two cannons, 
and sixty thousand muskets, with munitions of war. 

Up to this time this was by far the greatest victory of the 
war. That fourth of July, 1863, was a red-letter day in the 
history of the United States; for on the wings of the telegraph 
were borne to all the world the glad tidings that slavery had 
been virtually destroyed by two grand victories — Gettysburg 
and Vicksburg. The Confederate struggle henceforth was 
utterly useless. The leaders might have then yielded, for a 
protraction of the war meant simply a further loss of life 
and destruction of property. The fall of Vicksburg caused 
the surrender of six thousand men at Port Hudson ; and thus 
the great river was open to the ocean. 

After the disastrous defeat of Lee at Gettysburg, the Con- 
federates slowly retreated toward the Potomac ; but they found 
the river so swollen that it was impossible to cross. At 
Williamsport Lee fortified his position, and remained four days 
awaiting an attack by the Union army. A council of war 
called by General Meade decided against an attack; 

. Skirmishes 

and hence the enemy were permitted to escape to ^^ ^^^ ^^^^ 
their fortified works on the Rappahannock. Dur- 
ing the remainder of 1863 the two armies maneuvered a great 
deal without coming to a decisive action. There were, how- 
ever, frequent skirmishes between the cavalry, which simply 
resulted in loss of life and destruction of property, and 
accomplished little or nothing for either side in the great 
contest. 

General Rosecrans, in command of the army of the Cumber- 
land, had been repeatedly ordered to drive the Confederates 
under General Bragg out of Tennessee; but for some inscru- 
table reason he failed to obey. Had he followed up the 



3l8 THE CIVIL WAR. 

advantage gained at Stone River he would have prevented the 
sending of reenforcements to General Joseph E. Johnston, 
whose position in the State of Mississippi was a constant 
menace to Grant's army before Vicksburg. 

It was on the 24th of June, only a few days before the cap- 
ture of the great stronghold, that Rosecrans made a movement 
against Bragg whom he skillfully maneuvered into and out of 
Chattanooga. But the Union general unwisely scattered his 
forces, in the hope of capturing the Confederate army. In the 
meantime, Bragg had received reenforcements, and, turning 
suddenly round, he fiercely attacked the Federal 
Battle army at a small stream named Chickamauga. On 
the 19th of September there was fierce fighting all 
day. Longstreet arrived w4th his corps during the 
night. General George H. Thomas, commanding the Union 
left, was fiercely and repeatedly assailed by General Polk; 
but his wing of the army was invincible. The Federal right 
and center had been driven back in confusion with severe loss. 
But for Thomas the army of the Cumberland would have been 
destroyed. The broken and disordered troops rallied around 
the unconquered left wing, and assumed a strong position at 
Chattanooga. In killed, wounded, and captured, the Federal 
loss was sixteen thousand men. The Confederate loss was not 
given. This defeat greatly alarmed the government at Wash- 
ington. Thomas was ordered to supersede Rosecrans, and 
Grant was placed in command of the three armies of the 
Cumberland, the Ohio, and the Tennessee, his military juris- 
diction extending from the Mississippi to the Alleghanies. 

There was great danger that the army of the Cumberland 
would be starved into surrender. The rains had been heavy, 
the roads were knee-deep with mud, and horses and mules had 
died by the hundreds for lack of forage. Rations reached the 
discomfited and discouraged army by circuitous routes. Such 
was the dreadful condition of things when Grant was ordered 
to take command and save the army. Jefferson Davis visited 
Bragg's army, and made the fatal mistake of dividing it, by 



EVENTS OF 18G3. 319 

sending Longstreet's corps to capture Knoxville, then com- 
manded by Burnside. Longstreet made several assaults ; but 
each time he was driven back with severe loss. 

Grant gradually and skillfully obtained supplies of all kinds 
for his half-starved soldiers. At the same time he increased 
his force to eighty thousand men; and with this fine veteran 
army he was determined to drive Bragg out of his strong posi- 
tion between Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge. On 
the 23d of November the movement began. On 
the morn ins: of the 24th Hooker led the attack ^, ., „„ 

<^ ^ Chattanooga. 

upon Lookout Mountain; and under cover of a 
dense fog completely surprised the enemy, and captured two 
thousand prisoners. The next morning Sherman received 
orders to capture Missionary Ridge. After several fierce as- 
saults the Union general carried it by storm, and broke the 
enemy's line. The defeated Confederates fled to Dalton. 
This victory drove the enemy out of Tennessee. 

While the great majority of the Northern Democrats were 
in favor of prosecuting the war for the preservation of the 
Union, there was a small noisy minority that tried by every 
means in their power to embarrass the government in its 
efforts to suppress the rebellion. This faction was known as 
"Copperheads." In the beginning of 1863 everything wore 
a gloomy aspect for the cause of the Union. The notorious 
Louis Napoleon, emperor of the French, volunteered his ser- 
vices as "mediator;" in other words, he tried to aid the 
cause of secession. The anti-war Democrats, the upholders 
of slavery, were exasperated at Lincoln's proc- 
lamation of emancipation. They declared the Northern 

enemies of 

war for the Union a failure, and the suspension ^^e union, 
of the Habeas Corpus Act unnecessary and un- 
constitutional. The most outspoken and virulent of these 
politicians was C. L. Vallandigham, whom General Burnside 
arrested for resistance to the Federal government. The Presi- 
dent modified his punishment by banishment beyond the 
Southern lines. Meetings were held in Ohio and elsewhere 



320 THE CIVIL tVA/e. 

in which the government was severely denounced; and to add 
to these difficulties, there was the pressure of an immense war 
debt constantly accumulating. 

On the 13th of July a riot took place in New York which 
lasted four days. Whether this was a spontaneous rising of 
the poorer classes against the draft, because the wealthy could 
escape it by paying into the treasury the sum of three hundred 
dollars, or whether it was concocted and carried into execution 
by rebel emissaries, has never been clearly ascer- 
Draft not tained. It is more than probable that the persons 
New York. ^^'^*^ attacked and burned the offices of the provost 
marshals were honestly opposed to the draft; but 
after it began, the thieves and burglars who abound in all 
great cities emerged from their cellars and garrets, and com- 
menced their work of pillage, destruction, and murder. They 
cut the telegraph wires, destroyed railroads, set fire to the 
colored orphan asylum and several private houses, killed 
negroes, wherever encountered, in the most barbarous way, 
hanging some of them to lamp posts. Before the riot was 
suppressed many lives were lost and two million dollars w^orth 
of property was destroyed. This riot was the most disgraceful 
event of the Civil War. 

In 1863 Congress passed a bill authorizing the employment 

of negro soldiers. The Confederate government, in retaliation, 

declared all white officers of such troops outlaws, and, when 

captured, subject to instant death. In the ex- 

Bills passed , - . , ^ , 

by Congress change of pnsoncrs the enemy refused to recognize 
negroes as prisoners of war. President Lincoln 
then declared that a Confederate soldier would be executed for 
every United States soldier, without regard to race or color, 
when put to death in violation of the rules of war. In Decem- 
ber, 1863, over fifty thousand negro soldiers were enlisted, and 
in certain kinds of military service were found very useful. 



CHAPTER XLVI. 

THE CIVIL WAR — Continued. 

■ In peace there 's nothing so becomes a man 
As modest stilhiess and humiHty ; 
But when the blast of war blows in our ears, 
Then imitate the action of the tiger : 
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood." 



Events of 1864. 

While the great armies of the east and west were idly facing- 
each other, waiting for the fair weather of spring to enable 
them to renew hostilities on a grand scale, a num- 
ber of smaller armies, during the severe winter of Banks's 
1863 and 1864, were fighting with varying success 5^^,^^^ Qj.Qgg 
in Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Roads. 
General Banks, in an unsuccessful attempt to cap- 
ture Shreveport, was defeated by General Kirby Smith, at 
Sabine Cross Roads, and in the 
battle the Federal army lost three 
thousand men and eighteen guns. 
Admiral Porter supported Banks 
with his gunboats; but, owing to 
the shallowness of the Red 
River, some of the vessels were 
run ashore, and burned, in order 
to prevent their falling into the 
hands of the enemy. By the aid 
of a dam constructed by Colonel 
Bailey most of the gunboats es- 
caped. An expedition against 
Jacksonville, Fla., under the 
command of General Seymour and Admiral Dupont, proved 




Bands. 



HUNT. U. S. HIST. 



321 



322 THE CIVIL WAR. 

a complete failure. Several attacks made by General Gill- 
more on Charleston proved equally unsuccessful. The guerrilla 
warfare in Missouri and Arkansas had little or no influence on 
the general result. 

On the 2d of March, 1864, Congress revived the grade of 
lieutenant general, which had been held by Washington alone. 
On the 9th, Lincoln had the pleasure of handing Grant this 
new commission which made him actual commander of all the 
armies in the field. He fixed his headquarters with the Army 
of the Potomac, but did not disturb General Meade in its im- 
mediate command. This veteran army amounted to one hun- 
dred and forty thousand men, divided into three 
great corps, the Second under Hancock, the Fifth 

armies. o i ^ ' 

under Warren, and the Sixth under Sedgwick. In 
addition, Burnside commanded a reserve of twenty thousand 
troops composed partly of negroes. Grant's nominal forces 

in the field amounted to one mil- 
lion of men, scattered over five 
thousand miles of territory. 

The navy, also subject to his 
orders, consisted of six hundred 
vessels of war, mounting four thou- 
sand guns, lying along the coast 
and rivers. Counting the armies 
in Virginia, West Virginia, and 
along the coast of the Carolinas, fit 
„ . . , for duty, he commenced the cam- 

paign against Richmond with about 
three hundred thousand men. To oppose this force Lee had 
about half the number. But the Confederate general fought 
from behind intrenchments, and knew every rod of ground 
bet\feen the Rapidan and Richmond. 

Grant's purpose was to order an advance of all the armies 
on the ist of May, the objective points of the two great armies 
being Richmond and Atlanta. The simultaneous movement 
was ordered for the purpose of preventing the Confederates, 




EVENTS OF I864. 323 

whose armies moved within shorter lines, from carrying out 
their old trick of reenforcing each other as occasion required. 
Grant's plan of campaign was vast and comprehen- 
sive. The Army of the Potomac was the center; Grants 
Sherman's armies the right wing, and Butler's 
army at Fortress Monroe his left wing, with Burnside's Ninth 
Corps acting as a reserve. Grant's design was to crush the 
Confederate armies; that of Northern Virginia under Lee, and 
that in the west under Joseph E. Johnston. Could this be 
accomplished, there would be an end of the war. 

The North had vast resources ; those of the South had been 
exhausted. Lee's army of about sixty thousand men was 
stretched about twenty miles along the Rapidan, every rod of 
which was fortified. Grant crossed the river at Germania 
Ford, ten miles below Lee's right ; and the crossing was unop- 
posed, either because Lee was afraid to stretch his line any 
farther, or because he wished the Federals to entangle them- 
selves in the Wilderness. Grant moved his army on two roads 
running south. There were two roads running east and west, 
intersecting the others at right angles. 

The Federal army was marching in two columns along these 
roads, when Lee determined to throw a superior force between 
them, and defeat each in detail. On May 5, in an attempt to 
accomplish this purpose, Lee suddenly attacked the Union 
army in the Wilderness, at the junction of the roads; and the 
battle was continued until four o'clock in the afternoon, with- 
out much advantage to either side, when both armies withdrew 
to intrench. During the night Burnside's corps arrived, and 
was thrown between Warren and Hancock. The 
next mornino^ Sedgwick attacked on the ri^ht and battle 
Hancock on the left, both driving the Confederates wilderness, 
before them. At this moment Longstreet arrived 
on the field, and threw the Union forces on the left into con- 
fusion; but while he was preparing to execute a flank move- 
ment he was severely wounded by one of his own men by mis- 
take. After dark the enemy, under Gordon, suddenly struck 



324 THE CIVIL WAR. 

the Union right, routing two brigades, and capturing General 
Seymour and four thousand men. General Sedgwick, how- 
ever, soon restored order. On May 7, both armies spent the 
day in skirmishes and reconnoissances. 

On May 8, Lee retreated to Spottsylvania, where he was 
strongly intrenched. Here Warren assaulted Anderson's 
corps, and w'as repulsed with heavy loss. He rallied his 
troops, and made a second assault and wdth better success. 
Grant ordered Sedgwick to Warren's support, in order to 
crush Anderson before Lee could send forces to his support. 
Hancock and Burnside received similar instructions. On 
account of the difficulty of the road Sedgwick was slow in 
obeying the order. Hancock and Early met on the same road, 
and each held the other from the battlefield. On the 9th, Lee 
had his army intrenched in front of the tow^n, in the form of a 
semicircle. Warren occupied the right, Sedgwick 

^^"'^ the center, and Burnside the left. While Sedgwick 

of Spottsyl- . 1 .11 1 1 r^ r ^ 

vania. ^^^^ placing a battery, he was killed by a Conteder- 
sharpshooter. For the next two days there was 
considerable fighting, but without result to either side. After 
a week of desperate fighting Grant wrote a report to the War 
Department, which contained the historic sentence : ^^ I propose 
to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer ^ 

On May 12, Hancock's corps charged the center of Lee's 
line, and carried the breastworks, capturing three thousand 
men; but Ewell fell back to a stronger position, and was re- 
enforced by Hill and Anderson. The position w^as exceed- 
ingly important; for, if once carried, the Confederate line 
would be cut in two. The terrible contest lasted all day, 
and was carried far into the night. The Federal army lost 
ten thousand men ; the Confederates, much less. 

On the morning of May 22, Lee discovered that the Federal 
army had disappeared from his front, and, foreseeing the route 
that Grant would take, moved his army with great celerity to 
the south bank of the North Anna, and, marching on a shorter 
line, reached the river first and threw his forces behind in- 



Grant's 



EVENTS OF I864. 325 

trenchments already prepared for them. Grant ordered Han- 
cock and Warren, who were four miles apart, to cross the river. 
Lee, as usual, did not oppose the crossing, preferring to permit 
the Union army to attack him behind his fortifi- 
cations. The Federal commander, perceiving that 

flank move- 
Lee S purpose was to throw his whole army between ment. 

the two corps, and defeat each before the other 
could come to its support, ordered the two generals to recross 
the river. Grant then continued his flank movement by the 
left to the Chickahominy. 

While on the south bank of the North Anna, Lee received a 
reenforcement of fifteen thousand men. On the ist of June, 
Grant ordered General W. F. Smith to transfer his Eighteenth 
Corps by water from Bermuda Hundred to the Army of the Poto- 
mac. At the same time he changed his base from the Rappahan- 
nock to the White House. He then determined to seize Cold 
Harbor, for the purpose of forcing the Chickahominy at that 
point. On May 31, General Sheridan seized it, and the next 
day the Union troops came up, and, on June 2, a sharp engage- 
ment took place in which the Federals were successful at the 
cost of two thousand men. At sunrise, June 3, 
Grant ordered an assault by the whole army; but coid Harbor 
it was repulsed with terrible slaughter. It lasted 
only twenty minutes ; but in that short time ten thousand Union 
soldiers lay dead or wounded in front of the Confederate in- 
trenchments. Just after dark the Confederates charged the 
Federals, and were in turn repulsed with heavy loss. Again 
Grant found himself compelled to flank Lee by the left, and 
on the 14th of June he crossed the James River, with the deter- 
mination to lay regular siege to Richmond. Grant lost seventy 
thousand men in this campaign, and the Confederates a little 
more than half the number. The Federal army might have 
been transferred to its present position on the James without 
the loss of a man, and saved such a fearful destruction of 
human life; but General Grant knew that he could afford to 
lose two men to the enemy's one, and yet crush them in the 



326 THE CIVIL WAR. 

end. Grant's purpose from the beginning was to destroy the 
Confederate armies, and thus end the war. 

General Sigel, with a force of ten thousand men, moved up 
the Shenandoah Valley in two columns to New Market, where, 

on May 15, he was defeated by the Confederates 
Hunter Under General Breckinridge, who captured seven 

hundred prisoners, six guns, and part of his train. 
General Hunter, who succeeded Sigel, defeated the Confed- 
erates under General W. E. Jones and captured fifteen hundred 
men, together with three guns and a large number of small 
arms. 

On May 4 General Butler, reenforced by the Eighteenth 
Corps under General W. F. Smith, and by the Tenth Corps 

under General Gillmore, assisted by Admiral Lee 

with transports and ironclads, moved up the Tames 

movements. ^ ■> tr j 

River to City Point and Bermuda Hundred, where 
he intrenched his army. On the yth, he destroyed a portion 
of the Petersburg and Richmond Railroad; and on the 13th 
and 14th, he carried a portion of the enemy's line at Drurys 
Bluff. Beauregard, collecting all his forces in the Carolinas, 
moved rapidly against Butler, and forced him to fall back be- 
hind his intrenchments at the junction of the James and Appo- 
mattox Rivers. In the Confederate assault under the cover of 
a fog, the Unionists lost four thousand men. Beauregard then 
drew a line of fortifications across the neck of the peninsula 
which "bottled up " Butler's army. 

The most dashing, daring, and successful of all the minor 
operations of the campaign was that of General Philip Sheri- 
dan, who left the army in the Wilderness, May 9, 

Sheridan's i i i , i i -i /• 

exploits, reached the enemy s rear, destroyed ten miles or 
the Virginia Central Railroad and large quantities 
of supplies, liberated four hundred Union prisoners, fought 
a successful battle, in w^hich Generals J. E. B. Stuart and 
Gordon were killed, and then returned to the Army of the 
Potomac, having gone completely around Richmond and the 
Confederate army. 



CHAPTER XLVIL 

THE CIVIL WAR — Continued. 

" He's of stature somewhat low ; 
Your hero should be always tall, you know.'' 

" There is always safety in valor." 

Sherman's March, 1864. 

Leaving General U.S. Grant for the present on the southern 
bank of the James River, and omitting mention of many minor 
raids and combats, we shall turn our attention to the great 
Army of the West now under the command of General William 
Tecumseh Sherman. With his usual promptitude, Sherman 
was ready to march. May 4, against the Confederate army, 
commanded by General Joseph E. Johnston who had super- 
seded Bragg. 

The Union army amounted to about 100,000 men, with 554 
pieces of artillery, divided as foUovv^s : the Army of the 
Cumberland, 60,773, under General Thomas ; the 
Army of the Tennessee, 24,465, under General ^"^^ 
McPherson; and the Army of the Ohio, 13,559, 
under General Schofield. Johnston had an army of 41,000 
men, strongly intrenched at Dallas, which was subsequently 
reenforced until it numbered 64,000. Sherman's reenforce- 
ments made his army about double that of Johnston. The 
Confederate army was also divided into three corps, under 
Hardee, Hood, and Polk. 

On May 10, Sherman placed his right wing in the rear of 
Johnston, with Thomas and Schofield ready to attack in front. 
This movement forced the Confederates to fall back eighteen 
miles to Resaca, where they were strongly intrenched. On May 
15, there were fighting and skirmishing all day. McPherson 

327 



328 THE CIVIL WAR. 

had pushed his troops so far that he gained a hill overlooking 
the town, from which his field artillery could reach the railroad 
south of the town. The Confederates made several desperate 
attempts to drive him from this position, but were each time 
driven back wdth heavy loss. On the night of 
Evacuation, ^ Johnston cvacuatcd Resaca, burning his 

of Resaca. J o-> J •=" 

bridges behind him. He was pursued by the 

Union army to Cassville, where he made preparations to give 

battle ; but two of his corps commanders being opposed to it, 

Johnston resumed his retreat across 

the Etowah River. 

At Cassville, Sherman rested his 
army for a few days. The enemy 
took up a strong position at Alla- 
toona Pass ; and Sherman, aware of 
the difficulty, crossed the Etowah and 
made a flank movement toward the 
right, reaching Dallas his objective 
point. 

This town was important as the 

McPhersoih ^ 

center of many roads ; and its pos- 
session by the Union army threatened Marietta and Atlanta. 
On the march the Federal army encountered a strong body of 
Confederates, and a severe battle was fought at 
New Ho e ^^^ Hopc. The ucxt morning Sherman found 
the enemy strongly intrenched, and the battle was 
renewed; but without success. On May 28, a fierce contest 
took place between McPherson's corps at Dallas and a part 
of the Confederate army, in which the Union troops w^ere 
victorious. . 

Sherman having accomplished his main purpose of driving 
Johnston out of Allatoona, suddenly withdrew his army from 
New Hope and reached the line of railroad running south 
to Atlanta. 

Thus in one month Sherman had beaten back the Con- 
federates, over a rough and difficult country, for a distance 




EVENTS OF I864. 329 

of one hundred miles, and captured the strongly fortified posi- 
tions of Dalton, Resaca, Cassville, Allatoona, and Dallas. The 
whole march had been almost one continued fight. 
At Allatoona Sherman was oblisred to rest, rebuild ^'■'"^"^ 

^ ' victories. 

railroads and bridges, maintain his line of com- 
munication, and receive supplies for another forward move- 
ment. 

Johnston took a strong position, which covered Pine, Lost, 
and Kenesaw Mountains. On the nth of June, Sherman 
advanced against the enemy with the purpose of forcing his 
way through the mountains. Johnston, finding his line too 
extended, abandoned Pine Mountain on the 15th, and two 
days afterwards withdrew his forces from Lost Mountain. He 
was therefore enabled to contract his position on Kenesaw 
Mountain. 

Constant cannonading and skirmishing took place between 
the two armies. In one of these Hood made a sudden assault 
on Hooker; but the Confederates were repulsed with a loss 
of eight hundred men. On July 27th, Sherman assaulted the 
Confederate position in turn, and was beaten back with the 
loss of three thousand men. Sherman then sent McPherson 
far in the rear of Kenesaw Mountain. This movement com- 
pelled Johnston to fall back to the line of the Chattahoochee. 
But Sherman found means to cross the river, and Johnston, in 
order to avoid a battle, fell back to Atlanta. 

The Union commander then sent General Rousseau with a 
force of cavalry around Atlanta, for the purpose of destroying 
the railroads and cutting off the enemy's supplies. 
The skillful tactics and military ability thus far J°hnston 

superseded 

manifested by the Confederate commander were by Hood, 
evidently not appreciated by the great strategist 
who presided over the Confederate government at Richmond; 
and hence General Johnston was superseded by a mere fighter. 
General Hood, who blindly assumed, by orders, the impetuous 
"offensive-defensive," instead of the "defensive-offensive" of 
his predecessor. In pursuance of the new plan. Hood sud- 



330 



THE CIVIL WAR. 



denly attacked the Union army about five miles from Atlanta, 

and was repulsed, with the loss of five thousand men. He 

then massed his whole army against the army of 

McPherson ^^ Teuuessee, and a desperate battle was fought, 

killed. 

in which the Confederates were at first successful ; 
but they were subsequently driven back with the frightful loss 
of twelve thousand men. In this action the brave and skillful 
McPherson was killed. 

Again, on July 28, Hood hurled his whole force against 
Howard, who had succeeded to the command of the army of 
the Tennessee. Six times the enemy charged, and six times 
they were repulsed with the loss of six thousand men. Thus 
by the "offensive-defensive," Hood had sacrificed twenty- 
three thousand men of the small army which Johnston had 
conducted in comparative safety from Dalton to Atlanta. 

Hood sent Wheeler to destroy the railroad on which Sherman 
relied for supplies; and Sherman, in turn, sent Kilpatrick to 
break up the railroads in Hood's rear. Sherman, in the mean- 
time, closely invested Atlanta on the north and east; so that 
Hood must either abandon the town or drive off the Union 
army by a general assault. 

Again Hood ordered an attack by S. D. Lee and Hardee; 

and again he was repulsed, with the loss of five thousand 

more men, making twenty-eight thousand lost 

Hoodaban- assumptiou of the "offensive-defensive." 

dons Atlanta. ^ 

During the night of the 31st of August, Hood 
abandoned Atlanta, blowing up magazines and stores, and 
destroying seven locomotives and eighty-one cars, and a large 
quantity of cotton. 

Johnston's removal by Jefferson Davis was equivalent to a 
reenforcement of an army of forty thousand men to the cause of 
the Union. Next to the surrender of Vicksburg and the battle 
of Gettysburg, the capture of Atlanta was, thus far in the Civil 
War, the most important military event; for the Confederates 
lost a great railway center where most of their munitions of war 
were manufactured — the principal city of their wealthiest State. 



EVENTS OF 1864. 331 

As the bee flies, the distance from Chattanooga to Atlanta is 
a hundred miles, and it took Sherman a hundred days to drive 
Johnston before him, and to capture the city. If, however, 
the windings and turnings and flankings are taken into ac- 
count, it is probable that Sherman's army marched five hun- 
dred miles, feeling their way through a rough, wooded country, 
with a wily, vigilant general in front, ready to take advantage 
of any mistake in the game of war. 

This magnificent victory came just in time to save Lincoln 
in the coming presidential election; for the Democratic party 
had assumed that the war for the preservation of the Union 
was a failure. The fall of Atlanta was all the more welcome 
because the great Army of the Potomac had accomplished thus 
far very little, except to prevent reenforcements from being 
sent from Virginia to the aid of Johnston or Hood. 

Instead of pursuing Hood, Sherman rested his armies in and 
about the city. The Confederate general then entered Ten- 
nessee, wdth the hope that the Federal army would pursue him, 
and thus evacuate Georgia. But Sherman did not fall into 
this shallow trap. On the contrary, he ordered all 

, ,, . . . , , . , . Evacuation 

Citizens to leave the city, giving them their choice ^^ Atlanta 
to go North or South. He then destroyed every- 
thing in Atlanta that could be of the least use to the Con- 
federates. He also destroyed all the railroads, thus cutting 
himself off from communication with his base, and with the 
government at Washington. He sent Thomas with a fine 
army to take care of Hood in Tennessee, and then collecting 
the various divisions of his forces, he resolved to cut his way 
to the Atlantic Ocean. 

From Atlanta to Savannah is, in a straight line, about three 
hundred miles. When Sherman, with dauntless 
courage, began his historical march, he had four Sherman s 

^ ' *=* . ' march to 

army corps — the Fifteenth and Seventeenth under t^e sea. 
Howard, and the Fourteenth and Twentieth under 
Slocam. On Nov. ii, these corps marched out of Atlanta in 
four columns, living on the country, destroying railroads and 



332 



THE CIVIL WAR. 



everything else of value to the enemy's armies. On the 21st 
they reached Milledgeville, the capital of the State, where 
the troops rested for a few days. 

The Confederate officials made desperate attempts to col- 
lect a force to destroy Sherman; but the most they could do 
was to raise a few cavalry and some regiments of militia, which 
simply melted away before Sherman's veterans. In one month 
from the time he started, Sherman reached his objective point, 
— Savannah. After some little resistance Hardee, the Con- 
federate commander, escaped to Charleston with his 
^„ ^* little army of fifteen thousand men: and on Nov. 

of Savannah. -' ' 

2 2 Sherman marched in triumph into the city, 
where he found one hundred and fifty cannon, a great quantity 
of small arms, and thirty-eight thousand bales of cotton. 



Other Engagements, 1864. 

When Hood failed to entice Sherman to pursue him, he 
crossed the Tennessee, Nov. 11, and threatened the Union 

forces under Schofield and 
Granger; but the former fell 
back to Columbia and the 
latter to Stevenson. Hood 
pressed Schofield at Duck 
River; but the Union general 
retreated rapidly to Franklin, 
eighteen miles from Nash- 
ville, fighting all the way, and 
both armies were racing to see 
which could reach it first. 
Schofield, although impeded 
by a large train, won the race. 
At Franklin, Hood hurled his 
whole force against the Union 
center and carried its first lines at a fearful sacrifice of life; 
but toward sunset the Union army drove back the Confederates 
and recovered all the ground that had been lost earlier in 




Schofield. 



EVENTS OF 1864. 333 

the day. Both sides fought, hand to hand, with desperate 
valor, charging with the bayonet and using their 
muskets as clubs. Hood lost six thousand men, „^ f,.° 

' Franklin. 

Schofield less than half that number. During the 
night the latter fell back to Nashville. 

Meanwhile, General Thomas was slowly gathering in his 
reenforcements, and awaiting the arrival of cavalry, before 
he would commence a decisive movement. On the i6th of 
December, the Federal left wing attacked and drove back the 
Confederate right wing in confusion on their center; and at the 
opportune moment Wilson's cavalry attacked them in the rear. 
Hood managed to reenforce his right by transferring troops 
from his left; and by this means he was enabled to hold his 
position all day. During the night, however, he 
fell back two miles to a new position. The next '^^°^^^'^ 

victory at 

day the Federal troops in assaulting the enemy's Nashville, 
center were driven back with great slaughter. In 
the second charge the Federals carried all before them, cap- 
turing many guns and prisoners. The Confederates fled in 
confusion. The pursuit was kept up for several days, and 
Hood's army was virtually destroyed. He was soon after- 
wards relieved of his command at his own request. 

Toward the close of 1864, the Confederate resources were 
nearly exhausted; and had it not been for the running of the 
blockade, by which much-needed supplies were obtained by 
the Confederates, the war would have been ended much sooner. 
It was very difficult, however, to maintain a perfect blockade 
over twenty-five hundred miles of seacoast. One of the prin- 
cipal ports from which cotton was sent out in exchange for 
material of war and necessaries of life was Mobile. Admiral 
Farragut, with a fine fleet of ironclads and wooden vessels, as- 
sisted by General Granger with a force of five thousand men, 
Aug. 5, 1864, moved into Mobile Bay, which was defended 
by three strong forts, and by torpedoes sunk in the channel. 
The Confederates had a considerable naval force, the princi- 
pal vessel being the powerful ram Tennessee, The Union land 



334 ^-^^ CIVIL WAR. 

and naval forces acting in conjunction, the forts fell in rapid 

succession; and the enemy's vessels were beaten one by one. 

Farragut lashed himself in the rigging of his flag- 

Farragut's ghip, the Hartford^ from which dangerous position 

"^ ^r k"-? ° he overlooked the whole scene of action. A most 

Mobile. 

desperate encounter took place with the powerful 
ram Tennessee^ which boldly attacked the whole Union fleet; 
but at last she was compelled to show the white flag. Thus 
Farragut by his skill and courage gained the most famous 
naval victory of the war. 

The fertile valley of the Shenandoah had been from the 
beginning of the war a great granary for the Confederate army 
of Northern Virginia. The Union generals who had com- 
manded here were usually defeated, and they allowed the 
enemy to slip in and out of Richmond, as if out of a back 
door into a garden, for a fresh supply of provisions. This 
General Grant was resolved to put an end to ; and to accom- 
plish this purpose a new military department was created, 
Aug. 7, called the Middle Department, and General Philip H. 
Sheridan was assigned to the command. 

On Sept. 19, Sheridan fought the Confederates under Gen- 
eral Early, and gained a victory in which he captured three 

thousand prisoners and Ave pieces of artillery, 
victories. "^^ pursucd the enemy to Fishers Hill, where he 

again defeated them, taking one thousand prisoners 
and sixteen guns. Sheridan pursued Early with relentless 
activity, destroying everything in his march, and leaving not 
as much food behind him as would feed a crow. Finally, 
Early reached a place of safety at Browns Gap in the Blue 
Ridge, where it would have been folly to pursue farther. 

While the Union army was returning down the valley, it 

was attacked, Oct. 9, by the Confederate general 
Cedar Creek. R^sscr, who was badly beaten, losing three hundred 

prisoners and sixteen guns. While Sheridan was 
on a visit to Washington, Early, being heavily reenforced, 
stole slowly and secretly on the flank of the Union army at 



EVENTS OF I8G4. 335 

Cedar Creek, surprised it, and before a line of battle could 
be formed drove it panic-stricken for half a mile to the ground 
occupied by the Nineteenth Corps under Emory. The panic 
reached this corps, too, and both fled to the Sixth Corps, un- 
der Wright, who withstood the assaults of the Confederates, 
although attacked at the same time in front and on the left 
flank. 

In the meantime, General Sheridan had reached Winchester 
on his return from Washington. He heard the roar of artil- 
lery, and met some of the affrighted fugitives. It was here 
he made his celebrated ride to the front, guided by the noise 
of battle, and reached the Sixth Corps at ten o'clock in the 
morning. He stopped the retreat, inspired his 
troops with confidence, and formed a new line of ,. ^" ^",^ 

^ timely aid. 

battle. He then made a general assault on the 
enemy's center, which broke and fled in utter confusion. 
Sheridan, by his timely arrival, turned defeat into victory, 
and ended once for all the Confederate raids up the valley 
of the Shenandoah. 

In the general election of 1864, the Democratic candidates 
for President and Vice President were George B. McClellan 
and George H. Pendleton. The Republicans nomi- 
nated Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. The ^T° " ^ 

-' reelection. 

difference between the two platforms was extreme 
and radical. The Democrats advocated the reestablishment 
of slavery ; the Republicans, the restoration of the Union with- 
out slavery. Doubtless Sherman's, Sheridan's, and Farragut's 
victories greatly aided the Republican party. Lincoln and 
Johnson were elected by an overwhelming majority, receiving 
two hundred and twelve votes out of a total of three hundred 
and thirty-three cast. 



CHAPTER XLVIII. 



THE CIVIL WAR — Continued. 



Money is the sinews of war.' 



Chase and Seward. 

A GREAT war requires the expenditure of enormous sums of 
money. When Mr. Chase became Secretary of the Treasury 

the credit of the Federal govern- 
ment was at a very low ebb ; and 
in December, 1861, the banks in 
the loyal States, as well as the 
Treasury, were forced to suspend 
specie payments. Congress then 




passed a law making Treasury 
notes legal tender ; and, as a mat- 
ter of course, the currency be- 
came greatly depreciated. 

The rise and fall of the price of 

Chase. go\d became a barometer by which 

the success or failure of the armies 

could be measured. After Grant's inability to destroy Lee's 

army in the battles of the Wilderness, and before the great 

victories of Sherman, Sheridan, and Farragut, gold reached, 

July 9, 1864, its maximum price, $2.90 ; in other 

Depreciation ^^Qj-^^g^ ^ dollar in spccic was worth $2.90 in 

money. Treasury notes, or "■ greenbacks " as the people 

termed them. In accordance with the plans of Mr. 

Chase, Congress passed various acts to raise large sums of 

money. The State banks were forced to become National 

banks, so that they might absorb large amounts of government 

securities. 

336 



EVENTS OF 1864. 337 

In 1865, the government debt amounted to $2,423,437,001, 
which, added to the debts of the loyal States, raised the in- 
debtedness of the North to about $4,000,000,000, the most of 
which was raised by the loyal people themselves. But even 
this debt, enormous as it was, was little in comparison with 
the destruction of property caused by the raids, skirmishes, 
marches, and battles. In the Confederate States the paper 
money was practically worthless. Mr. Chase deserves great 
credit for his splendid management of the Treasury, and Mr. 
Seward, Secretary of State, for his able conduct of foreign 
affairs, which prevented England and France from acknowledg- 
ing the independence of the South. 

When Congress met, Dec. 6, 1864, it passed the Thirteenth 
Amendment to the Constitution, which abolished 

. . . 1 TT • 1 o Abolition 

and forever prohibited slavery in the United States. ^^ slavery. 
This amendment was made constitutional by re- 
ceiving a two-thirds vote of both houses, and by being rati- 
fied by a vote of three fourths of the States. 

Grant and Sherman's Operations, 1864-1865. 

After reaching the James River, Grant made several unsuc- 
cessful attempts to capture Petersburg, in which he lost a great 
number of men. The most famous of these undertakings was 
the mine which Burnside had bored under a fort in his front. 
When it was exploded, July 30, 1864, its garrison of three hun- 
dred men was destroyed, leaving a crater twenty feet deep and 
one hundred feet long. Instantly one hundred and ten cannon 
and fifty mortars commenced playing on the enemy ; but owing 
to bad generalship on the part of the corps com- 
mander and the general of division, the Union army p'^fo^ac 
lost four thousand men, and the " explosion," to use 
Grant's words, "proved a stupendous failure." The remainder 
of the winter Grant devoted to destroying railroads, cutting off 
Lee's supplies, and preventing the Confederate army from escap- 
ing and joining the force under General Joseph E. Johnston, 
now in command in North Carolina. Grant meant to capture 

HUNT. U. S. HIST. — 22 



33^ THE CIVIL WAR. 

the army of Northern Virginia, just as he had captured an army 
at Fort Donelson and another at Vicksburg, and end the Civil 
War by one great and decisive stroke. 

On account of the incessant rains, Sherman was unable to 
move his army from Savannah until Feb. i, 1865. He started 
a forward movement with four corps, marching, as nearly as 
possible, in four parallel columns, his objective point being 
Columbia, the capital of South Carolina, the proud 
Sherman's q\^ State which was the most bitter and determined 
°^^n^the"^ in forcing her sister States into civil war. General 
caroiinas. Slocum, Commanding the left wing, was ordered 
to threaten Augusta. By this strategy the Con- 
federate forces were held in this place and in Charleston. 
Sherman then captured, almost without a blow, the South 
Carolina Railroad, tore up the rails, burned the ties, and 
twisted the bars. On Feb. 17, the Union army entered Colum- 
bia in triumph. The only opposition it received was from 
a cavalry force under General Wade Hampton who fled the 
town, but not before he had set fire to the cotton and other 
material, to prevent their falling into Sherman's hands. Sher- 
man was falsely accused of burning the city. On the 19th. 
he moved out of Columbia, still marching northward, and left 
the enemy in doubt concerning his objective point. The roads 
were exceedingly bad, and the rivers very much swollen. 

The fall of Columbia compelled Hardee to abandon Charles- 
ton to its fate. Here, as at Columbia, the Confederate gen- 
eral set fire to everything of value and marched out to form 
a junction with Beauregard and Cheatham, who had gathered 
together the remains of Hood's broken army and brought them 
into North Carolina. Sherman pushed on toward Charlotte, 
to which place Beauregard had fallen back. Leaving the Con- 
federates at this place, the Union general suddenly turned 
eastward, and reached Fayetteville on March 12. 

All the Confederate forces, amounting to forty thousand 
veteran soldiers, were united under the command of General 
Joseph E. Johnston. Sherman now threatened Raleigh ; but 



EVENTS OF 1865. 339 

his intention was to seize Goldsboro. Near Bentonville, Slo- 
cum's left wing found itself suddenly confronted by the whole 
Confederate army. Sherman ordered Slocum to hold his posi- 
tion, and sent reenforcements to his aid from the right wing. 
Johnston, in desperation, and with the hope of destroying 
Slocum, made six fierce assaults, but was beaten back each 
time with heavy loss. During the night the Con- 
federates retreated to Smithfield, and the Federal coidsboro 
army took Goldsboro. In the three months' march 
from Savannah to Goldsboro, Sherman had covered eight hun- 
dred miles, crossed many rivers, and deceived and outgen- 
eraled the enemy with unsurpassed ability and daring. Here 
he turned over the command to General Schofield, and hastened 
to City Point, to consult Grant and Lincoln. 

The Federal armies and navies had seized one port after 
another, till the only one of any importance in the posses- 
sion of the Confederates was Wilmington, N.C., which was 
defended by Fort Fisher, a place of considerable strength on 
a peninsula between the ocean and Cape Fear River. General 
Butler was directed to send an officer of ability, who, in con- 
junction with Admiral Porter, would assault and capture the 
fort. Instead of sending General Weitzel, as Grant intended, 
Butler himself headed the expedition, which under his com- 
mand proved a complete failure. Grant was re- 
solved that Wilmington must fall ; he therefore ^^p*"""^ °^ 

1 ^ , rr. Fort Fisher. 

selected General A. H. Terry to command another 
expedition in conjunction with the navy under Porter. The 
admiral maintained a terrible fire for three days from four 
hundred guns ; and when he had done considerable damage to 
the enemy's works, at the proper signal a force of marines and 
soldiers made a general assault, and captured the fort, with 
two thousand prisoners, one hundred and sixty-nine guns, and 
a large quantity of military supplies. 

In the midst of the Civil War the territory of Nevada 
Nevada applied for admission to the Union, and admitted, 
in October, 1864 she was admitted as a State. 



340 THE CIVIL WAR. 



Fall of Richmond and End of the War. 

After the Confederate defeats at Vicksburg and Gettysburg, 
the complete restoration of the Union without slavery was only 
a question of time. The government at Richmond was cer- 
tainly aware of the desperate state of its affairs when, in 
the winter of 1864, it sent Alexander H. Stephens, R. M. T. 
Hunter, and Judge Campbell to negotiate a peace. 
Negotiations ^^ course there could be no peace now on any 

for peace. * / 

terms except the prohibition of slavery ; and to this 
the Confederates would not consent. Sherman's marches and 
victories had proved that the Confederacy was nothing but a 
shell supported by brave soldiers and able generals, but lack- 
ing all those appliances which make war successful. 

Grant's plan was to destroy armies ; 
and, in spite of politics and political 
generals of little ability, he managed, 
with the aid of professional soldiers like 
Sherman, Sheridan, and Thomas, to ac- 
complish his purpose. Two powerful 
armies were now in Lee's r^ar, and but 
one road open for retreat. Grant was 
resolved to prevent the army of North- 
ern Virginia from escaping by the Dan- 
ville road, and forming a junction with 
Stephens. Johnston's army of forty thousand in 

North Carolina. Both armies might 
then fall upon Sherman and defeat him. Such a disaster 
might prolong the war another year. Grant's main purpose 
was to capture Lee's army or starve it into surrender. 

The Union commander issued an order for a general move- 
ment on the 29th of March. On the morning of the 25th, the 
Confederate general Gordon assaulted the Ninth Corps on the 
Union right, and at first carried three batteries ; but these were 
subsequently retaken by the Unionists. Grant, in his interview 
with Sherman, advised him to make a feint against Raleigh 




FALL OF RICHMOND. 34 1 

and then march rapidly to the Roanoke. In a similar inter- 
view with Sheridan, he directed him to capture Five Forks ; or, 
in case of necessity, to cut loose from his base, live on the 
country and proceed to cut the Richmond and Danville road. 
He could then place his army in the rear of Johnston, and by 
cooperation with Sherman destroy the enemy's army in North 
Carolina. 

On the 29th, Sheridan reached Dinwiddle Court House, and 
the next day proceeded to Five Forks. Reenforced by the 
Second Corps, he was directed to turn the enemy's right ; but 
Warren, the corps commander, failed to bring his whole force 
into action, and he was therefore driven back in detail ; and 
Sheridan was forced to fall back in the direction 
of Dinwiddle Court House. On account of his 

genius. 

slow movements, Warren, by Sheridan's order, was 
superseded by Griffin. Here Sheridan manifested the genius 
of a great commander by deploying his cavalry on foot, and 
thus compelling the enemy to scatter themselves over a broken 
and wooded country. 

On April i, Sheridan, being heavily reenforced, drove the 
Confederates back on Five Forks, where he assailed their 
position and captured their artillery and five thousand pris- 
oners. Grant continued to reenforce Sheridan, and ordered 
him to keep up a bombardment all night. The Richmond 
next morning, April 2, the commander in chief and 
ordered a general assault. Wright carried all be- Petersburg 
fore him and took several thousand prisoners. He 
then joined Ord and both closed in on Petersburg. At eleven 
A.M., while Jefferson Davis was at church, he received a tele- 
gram from Lee, stating that his line was broken in two places. 
Durins: the night the Confederates abandoned both Richmond 
and Petersburg and fled toward Danville. 

Sheridan, on the morning of the 3d, commenced the pursuit. 
When Lee reached the north bank of the Appomattox, he had 
only twenty thousand men remaining of the great army of 
Northern Virginia. Faster and faster Sheridan pursued with 



342 THE CIVIL WAR. 

his cavalry, followed by the Sixth, Second, and Fifth Corps, 
and forced the Confederate commander to abandon a portion 
of his train. During the afternoon of the 6th, the Union gen- 
eral attacked the enemy at Sailors Creek, and captured sixteen 
guns and four hundred wagons. The Confederates were held 
in check until the arrival of the Sixth Corps, when a general 
assault was made, in which seven thousand prisoners were 
taken, among whom were several officers of high rank, includ- 
ing Lieutenant General Ewell. 

Lee tried to continue his movement westward; but his 

case was hopeless. In order to prevent further effusion of 

blood. Grant, on the 8th, sent to the Confederate chief a note 

asking him to surrender. Late in the evening 

^^^ ! Sheridan arrived at Appomattox station, where he 

surrender. ^ ^ 

intercepted Lee in his attempt to escape. At this 
point the Confederates made a last desperate charge to break 
through the Union lines; but utterly failing to accomplish this 
purpose, Lee sent in a flag of truce, pending negotiations for 
a surrender. To Grant's note Lee responded, requesting an 
interview. The two great chiefs met at the house of a Mr. 
McLean, at Appomattox Court House, and agreed on the terms 
of surrender. The terms proposed by General Grant, and 
accepted by General Lee, were very generous, and might be 
summed up in the one sentence: Give your parole to fight 
no more against the Union ; officers can retain their side arms 
and horses, and common soldiers such horses as they own. 
Lee was very much touched by Grant's magnanimity. 

With the surrender of Lee's army the Civil War was virtu- 
ally ended; and in the reconstruction of the Confederate 
States the best and kindest friend the Southern people had 
throughout the entire North was the man who had '' charity for 
all, with malice toward JtoJie " — the great and good Abraham 
Lincoln. The President, accompanied by his wife and two 
others, on the evening of April 14, occupied a box at Ford's 
theater in Washington. General Grant and his wife had been 
invited to join the party; but fortunately for them they were 



END OF THE WAR. 343 

on a visit to their children, then in school in Burlington, N.J. 
Toward the close of the play an actor named John Wilkes 
Booth stole into the vestibule of the President's box, and shot 
him through the brain; so that, without ever recovering con- 
sciousness, he died the next morning at about half- 

, rpi ji • • J r Assassination 

past seven. Ihe cowardly assassin jumped from 
the box to the stage, and exclaimed, " Sic semper 
tyrafiiiusr But as he jumped his spur caught in the folds of 
a flag, causing him to fall heavily and wound one of his ankles. 
It was this injury which led to his capture in a Maryland barn; 
but he died in a few hours from his wounds. 

On the same night an attempt was made to assassinate Wil- 
liam H. Seward, Secretary of State. During the trial of the 
assassins the authorities unfolded a plot to murder the prin- 
cipal officers of the government. Several of the conspirators 
were imprisoned for life, and some were hanged. 

To the credit of the Confederate generals be it said they 
knew when they were beaten and did what they could to pre- 
vent a guerrilla warfare. They had the good sense to accept 
the generous terms of Grant; and Sherman proposed terms 
to Johnston even more magnanimous; but these the Federal 
government could not approve, because the mili- 
tary conditions trenched on the civil authorities. ""^" ^^° 

'' ^ ^ , Johnston and 

In the discussions which followed, Stanton and Hal- Kirby Smith, 
leek treated the great commander who had marched 
and fought over three great States, capturing many cities and 
destroying several armies, with a meanness and a malignity 
unparalleled in the history of the United States. Sherman 
then offered Johnston the same terms which had been granted 
General Lee, and they were accepted. Generals Kirby Smith, 
Dick Taylor, and others, acceded to the same terms; and so 
ended the most gigantic civil war of modern times. On the 
23d and 24th of May, there was a grand review in the city of 
Washington of two hundred thousand veterans, consisting of 
the two great armies — that of the Potomac and that of the 
Mississippi. 



344 THE CIVIL WAR. 

On the night of the day that Lee informed Davis that his 
lines were broken in two places, the latter fled to Danville, 
accompanied by the members of his cabinet. From Danville 
he fled to Abbeville, S.C., and thence to Irwinville, Ga. 
Here, in addition to the members of his family, his only 
companion of note was his Postmaster-general, Reagan. All 
sorts of absurd rumors were set afloat; but the most prepos- 
terous was that he had carried off with him many 
Jefferson ^lillions of dollars in specie. General Wilson, in 
Davis. command of the Department of Georgia, sent cav- 
alry officers in all directions to hunt down the fugi- 
tive President. Colonels Pritchard and Harden, May ii, 
surprised Davis's camp, and took him prisoner. He was sub- 
sequently sent to Fortress Monroe, where he was closely 
confined for two years, until released on bail. 

Besides the vast treasure in money and the destruction of 
property of untold value, the Civil War cost the North three 
hundred thousand lives, either by battle, or by wounds and 
diseases; and had it not been for the Christian and Sanitary 
Commissions which attended so zealously to the sick and 
wounded, the number of deaths would have been greatly in- 
creased. In addition to this great loss of life, 
^^j. many soldiers were disabled, and others had con- 

tracted diseases which carried them off in a few 
years. Although the Confederates fought on their own soil, 
and during the last year mainly behind fortifications, it is quite 
probable that their losses were nearly as great. While the 
people of the North enjoyed the comforts of life, and trade, 
commerce, and manufactures were carried on as usual, the 
people of the South were shut in from the rest of the world by 
the blockade, and suffered great deprivations and hardships, 
which proved their sincerity and faith in their cause. Cour- 
age and magnanimity were amply displayed on both sides; 
and, with one or two exceptions, the great Civil War was 
conducted without the horrid crimes which usually accompany 
such a contest. 



CHAPTER XLIX. 



ADMINISTRATIONS SINCE THE WAR. 

" Buried was the bloody hatchet ; 
Buried was the dreadful war-club ; 
Buried were all warlike weapons ; 
And the war-cry was forgotten ; 
There was peace among the nations." 

Johnson's Administration (1865-1869). 

Andrew Johnson, the Vice President, was privately sworn 
into office as President, April 15, and immediately began to 
display those peculiarities of 
temperament for which he was 
remarkable. Like Lincoln, he 
had risen from the humblest 
walks of life by dint of cour- 
age, ability, and perseverance; 
but there the likeness ended. 
While Lincoln was meek and 
lowly of spirit, patient, gen- 
erous and ever ready to for- 
give, Johnson possessed all 
the vanity of the self-made 
man, was impulsive and im- 
patient, unforgiving and vin- 
dictive. Above all, he was 
exceedingly stubborn. He be- 
gan his administration with undue severity, constantly repeat- 
ing his favorite saying, ''I will make rebellion odious." 

From being the most vindictive enemy of the conquered 
South, he suddenly turned round to be its best friend and 
stubborn champion. He assumed the theory that the seceded 
States had never been out of the Union, and that he, as chief 

345 




Johnson. 



346 ADMINISTRATIONS SINCE THE WAR. 

magistrate, possessed the power to reconstruct them. Accord- 
ingly, he recognized the State governments of some of the 
, ^ , States which had been oro^anized durino^ the Civil 

Johnson's _ ^ * 

attitude War. He appointed provisional governors in 
toward the others, and directed the formation of conventions 

South. ^^ form new State governments. He also issued 
a proclamation of pardon to all but a few leaders, provided 
the persons lately engaged in rebellion would take an oath to 
support and defend the Constitution, accept the Thirteenth 
Amendment, and bind themselves never to demand the pay- 
ment of the Confederate war debt. 

When Congress assembled, it took strong ground against 
the reconstruction methods of the President; declared that he 
had usurped the powers which legally belonged to the national 
legislature, and immediately proceeded to pass several bills 
over the President's veto, the most important of which were 
The Freedman's Bureau, the Civil Rights, and the Tenure of 
Office Bills. Then began a bitter and unrelenting contest 
between the President and Congress. The former believed 
that the South would do justice to the freedmen ; and the latter, 
still distrusting the recent slaveholders, was resolved to take 
the matter of reconstruction into its own hands. Johnson 
before the war had been a Southern Democrat and during the 
war a pronounced Unionist. Doubtless he was honest in his 
opinions to which he clung with stubborn tenacity. 

Finally, he removed Edwin M. Stanton from the position 

of Secretary of War, in spite of the Tenure of Office Bill. The 

House of Representatives then passed a bill of 

Jo nson impeachment; and after a trial of two months by 

impeached. '■ ■' 

the Senate he was acquitted for lack of the neces- 
sary two-thirds vote. Seven Republican senators refused to 
vote with their party; and thus the President was saved from 
the terrible disgrace of removal from his great office, but only 
by one vote. 

Congress placed the South under martial law, and for 
this purpose divided the country into military districts. Two 



JOHNSON'S ADMINISTRATION 347 

amendments to the Constitution were passed ; — the Four- 
teenth, making the freedmen citizens, and the Fifteenth, 
giving them the right to vote. No State could be admitted 
into the Union unless it conformed to these conditions. Six 
of the States recently in secession accepted the 
amendments, and were admitted; but some of . ^^ '^ ^^ 

' ' in the South. 

the others, in which the freedmen outnumbered 
the whites, refused; and hence, under military rule, State 
governments were established in which the recently manu- 
mitted slaves became the legislators. There 
followed a rush of adventurers to the South, 
greedy of gain, and ambitious for high 
office, who, gaining control over the ignorant 
freedmen, governed these States, as a rule, in 
the most infamous manner. These men were 
nicknamed " carpetbaggers." 

The Emperor of the French not only en- 
deavored to split the great Republic in two, 
but tried to establish an empire in Mex- Seward. 

ico. Taking advantage of the Civil War, 
when the United States had its hands full to preserve its 
integrity and power among the nations of the earth, he sent 
an army to place an Austrian prince named Maximilian on 
the Mexican throne. He well knew that such conduct on 
his part was contrary to the "Monroe Doctrine." The Mex- 
icans would not submit, and under Juarez and 
other leaders they maintained the independence of . ^ 

-' ^ independence 

their country. A price was placed on the head of threatened. 
Juarez, dead or alive ; and the great patriot was 
reduced almost to despair, when the termination of the Con- 
federate War in the United States enabled the Federal gov- 
ernment to extend its sympathy, and, if need be, its support, 
to the Republican party in Mexico. 

William H. Seward, Secretary of State, requested the French 
Emperor to withdraw his troops, or take the consequences of a 
refusal. The hero of Bologne and subsequently of Sedan did 




34^ ADMIA'ISTKATIOXS SINCE TfJE WAR. 

not hesitate to grant the request. The French army left Mex- 
ico, and Maximilian was abandoned to his fate. Juarez now 
raised a powerful force, with which he defeated and captured 
the unfortunate Austrian prince, whom he instantly put to 
death. The republic of Mexico was reestablished, and the 
attempt to found an empire on the North American continent 
failed ingloriously. 

Cyrus W. Field had made several attempts to connect Europe 
with America by means of a telegraphic cable. After ex- 
pending vast sums of money, one was laid in 1858, through 
which communication between Great Britain and the United 
States was established, but for a few weeks only. In 1866, 

Mr. Field, with a perseverance worthy of the great- 
Atlantic . 1 1 . 1 • 1 T 1 

Cable ^^^ praise, succeeded in laying another cable, using 
for that purpose the Great Eastern^ then the largest 
vessel ever built. This cable connected Valentia Bay, Ire- 
land, with Hearts Content, Newfoundland ; thus joining the 
Old World and the New, 

It is remarkable that by far the greater portion of the present 
United States was obtained not by conquest, but by purchase. 
Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory from France ; Mon- 
roe, Florida from Spain ; Polk, the vast region extending from 
Texas to and including California from Mexico ; 
of Alaska ^^*^ Scward, the great territory of Alaska, with the 
Aleutian Islands, from Russia. The sum paid to 
Russia for 550,000 square miles of territory was $7,200,000. 
Alaska is valuable for its fisheries, especially for the seal, 
and for its furs of many kinds, 
admitted. During Johnson's administration one new State 
was admitted into the Union — Nebraska, in 1887. 
In the general election of 1868 Ulysses S. Grant and Schuy- 
ler Colfax were the Republican, and Horatio Sey- 
of Grant, ^^"^o^r and Frank P. Blair the Democratic, candidates 
for the presidency and vice presidency. The Re- 
publicans carried the country by a very large majority, and 
Grant was elected President. 



GRA NT 'S A DMIXIS TRA TION. 



349 



Grant's Administration (1869-1877). 

Shortly after Grant's inauguration the Union Pacific Rail- 
road was completed. This was one of the greatest achieve- 
ments of modern times. It bound the east to 
the west with iron links, and prevented the estab- U">°" 
lishment of what some people feared — a republic Railroad, 
on the Pacific slope. It opened for settlement 
the vast territory between the Mississippi and California; it 
gave access to the mineral wealth of Nevada and Colorado, 
and the fertile plains of the 
Dakotas; it made the great 
land purchases from France 
and Mexico of immense value; 
and it enabled the merchants 
of the east to receive the teas 
of China and Japan, and the 
spices of the East Indies, in 
less than a month. 

The reconstruction of the 
South was not completed until 
1870, when representatives and 
senators were admitted to Con- 
gress from all the States which 
had seceded in i860 and 186 1. 
The disorders created by the 

discontented white people in States where the colored people 
were in the majority compelled Congress to pass the " Force 
Bill," which placed some of the Southern States 

1 ... 1 r 1 r . • t " Force Bill." 

under military rule, for the purpose of giving the 

negro protection in his exercise of the right of the franchise 

bestowed upon him by the Fifteenth Amendment. Y\r^^ in 

During 1871 an immense and destructive fire Chicago and 
occurred in Chicago, and in 1872 another in Bos- Boston, 
ton ; but the energetic and enterprising citizens of those cities 
quickly recovered their losses. 




Grant. 



350 ADMINISTRATIONS SINCE THE WAR, 

In 187 1 a treaty was made between Great Britain and the 

United States, called the treaty of Washington, by which 

the former agreed to pay the latter damages to the 

Treaty of amount of $1 q, i^oo.ooo, for injuries inflicted on 

Washington. >p O'O ' ' J 

American commerce by the A/abama and other 
vessels fitted out in English ports. It is safe to say that had 
such a claim been made by the United States at the close of 
the Revolutionary War, or the War of 1812, Great Britain 
would have haughtily refused to admit it. But the American 
Republic had proved itself a very powerful nation. 

In 1872 there was considerable disaffection toward Grant's 
administration. Many Republicans desired a change ; and in 
order to accomplish this purpose the Liberals (as they were 

called) nominated Horace Greeley, a distinguished 
eeectiono ^j^^-^gj^ygj-y editor, whose nomination was subse- 

Grant. ' ' 

quently indorsed by the Democrats. Horace Gree- 
ley, as editor of the New York Tribime, wielded an influence 
never equaled by any other editor in America; and yet his 

early education was obtained by 
a few months' attendance at a 
country school. Grant carried 
the country by an overwhelming 
majority. 

In 1873 a great financial 
panic occurred, similar to the 
panics of 1837 and 1857. It was 
caused by over speculation in 
the bonds and stocks of new 
railroads which had been con- 
structed in advance of the in- 
crease in population. It was 
precipitated by the failure of Jay 
Cooke's banking house in Philadelphia. Thousands were 
ruined in the general crash ; and so disastrous was 
Panic of 1873. ^^^ panic that the Federal government was com- 
pelled to suspend payments on the national debt. 





GRANT'S ADMINISTRATION. 35 I 

In 1872 the northwestern boundary line was settled by the 
decision of the German Emperor in favor of the 
United States. The year 1876 was remarkable for Centennial 
the centennial celebration of the Declaration of ^^r'^fc"" 

of 1876. 

Independence, held in Philadelphia. 

There were two Indian wars during Grant's administration, 
the Modoc and the Sioux. In the former General 

.^ , , II' ^ ' ■, -K Indian Wars. 

Canby was treacherously slam, and m the latter 
General Custer, a distinguished cavalry officer, was killed. 

The people of Colorado ratified their consti- 
tution in 1876, and immediately afterwards that c°^°''^^° 

' „ ^ admitted. 

territory was admitted as a State. 

The presidential election of 1876 came very near terminating 
in a " War of Succession." The Republican candidates for 
President and Vice President were Rutherford B. Hayes and 
William A. Wheeler ; and the Democratic candidates were 
Samuel J. Tilden and Thomas A. Hendricks. The contest 
between the Democrats and Republicans was bitter, the former 
favoring the withdrawal of troops from the South and a general 
reform in the Federal Administration, and the latter the pro- 
tection of the negro in his right of suffrage by an armed force. 

On the face of the returns Samuel J. Tilden was duly elected ; 
but some of the Republican leaders insisted that the States of 
South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana had been carried by 
the Democrats by fraud and intimidation. In these States there 
were " Returning Boards " which were induced to throw out a 
sufficient number of votes to elect Hayes by one majority in 
the Electoral College. The whole country was very much agi- 
tated, and divided into two hostile camps, each claiming that 
its candidate was chosen President. Finally, when 
matters had reached the dangerous point, it was ^ 
determined to appoint an Electoral Commission, 
consisting of five members of the House of Representatives, 
five senators, and five justices of the Supreme Court, whose de- 
cision would terminate the contest. By a party vote of eight 
to seven, Hayes was declared President, and duly inaugurated. 



352 



ADMINISTRATIONS SINCE THT. VVAK. 



Withdrawal 
of troops. 



Hayes's Administration (1877-1881). 

Although there were a few in the North opposed to the 
withdrawal of the United States troops from the States lately 
in rebellion, the great majority of the people hailed 
the measure with delight as the harbinger of real 
peace. Very soon after this event the native white 
population gained control of 
the States, and "carpetbag" 
and negro rule disappeared. 

The resumption of specie 
payments by the Federal gov- 
ernment on the I St of January, 
1879, was an event of far-reach- 
ing influence as regards the 
general prosperity of the repub- 
lic. In the fourth year of the 
war there were, as before stated, 
periods when the "greenback " 
was worth less than forty cents 
in specie. Gradually, after the 
conclusion of the civil contest, 
this paper dollar increased in 

value, until at the date above mentioned it was worth a hun- 
dred cents. 

A number of great railroad riots occurred in 1877. They 
commenced with strikes in the Northern States, which ex- 
tended as far west as California, and in a short time a hun- 
dred and fifty thousand men were out of work. In Pittsburg 
the rioters seized and plundered freight cars, and 
destroyed property to the value of several millions 
of dollars. The United States troops were finally 
called out by the President, and they quickly suppressed the 
riot and restored order. 

During Hayes's administration a treaty was made with China 
which enabled the Federal government to limit the Chinese 




Hayes. 



Railroad 
riots. 



GA RFIEL D'S A DM IN IS TRA TION. 



353 



immigration. Great numbers of Mongolians had settled in 

California and other western States and Territories, and had 

become exceedingly obnoxious to the white inhabitants, for 

the reason that these strangers are willing to work Treaty with 

for low wages, and thus reduce the compensation China. 

of American workmen. Besides, they did 

to remain in and become 

citizens of the United States, 

but only to make money with 

which to return to their own 

country. 

In the general election of 
1880 the Republican candi- 
dates, James A. Garfield and 
Chester A. Arthur, were 
chosen President and Vice 
President. The defeated Dem- 
ocratic candidates were Win- 
field Scott Hancock, the hero 
of Gettysburg, and William 
H. English of Indiana. 




Gai-field. 



Garfield's Administration (1881). 

On July 2, nearly four months after Garfield's inauguration, 
while on his way to the railway station, accompanied by Mr. 
Blaine, his Secretary of State, for the purpose of visiting 
friends in New England, the President was shot by a disap- 
pointed office-seeker. Garfield lingered between life and death 
for more than two months, and in spite of the best Assassina- 
medical aid in the country died, Sept. 19, at Elberon, tion of 
N.J., where he had been carried in the hope that Garfield, 
the sea breezes of the Atlantic would assist in his recovery. 
This untimely death of a man who gave promise of directing 
an excellent administration was lamented not only by the 
people of the United States, but by the civilized world at 
large. 



HUNT. U. S. HIST. — 23 



354 



ADMINISTRATIONS SINCE THE WAR. 




Arthur's Administration (1881-1885). 

In accordance with the Constitution, Chester A. Arthur, the 
Vice President, on Garfield's death took the oath of office 

as President. 

The overflow of the Mis- 
sissippi in 1882 destroyed 
vast amounts of property in 
Louisiana, and left over a hun- 
dred thousand people home- 
less. Congress sent cargoes 
of food to the devastated dis- 
tricts, and saved the inhabi- 
tants from starvation. 

During this administration 
postage was reduced in all 
parts of the United States 
from three to two cents. 

The assassination of Presi- 
dent Garfield, the greed for 
ofiice of the professional politician, and the insistence of the 
pernicious sentiment that, "to the victors belong the spoils," 
caused Congress to pass a bill giving the President 
power to appoint commissioners to examine into 
the qualifications of persons seeking office in the 
lower grades. From lists of candidates whom the examiners 
found fitted, the President could make his appointments. 
This reform, if faithfully enforced, would relieve the chief 
magistrate from great annoyance, and give him more time 
to attend to affairs of state. As the Republic increases in 
wealth and population, and as the offices to be filled increase 
in a corresponding ratio, the necessity for the rigid execution 
of the Civil Service Act becomes more and more important. 

In 1884 the candidates for the presidency and vice presi- 
dency were Grover Cleveland of New York and Thomas A. 
Hendricks of Indiana, nominated by the Democrats; and James 



Arthur, 



Civil Service 
Act. 



CLEVELAND'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION 



355 



G. Blaine of Maine and John A. Logan of Illinois, by the 
Republicans. The People's party and the Prohibitionists 
also nominated candidates. Many dissatisfied voters of the 
Republican party supported Cleveland in preference to Blaine. 
This defection caused the defeat of the latter. 
But even then the change of five or six hundred ^^^'^^^°" °^ 

if , 1 ^/r 1 . Cleveland. 

votes in New York would have elected Mr. Blaine. 
Since the time of James Buchanan the Republican party had 
been successful in every presidential election; and now, for 
the first time in a quarter of a century, the Democratic party 
came into power. All eyes were turned toward Mr. Cleveland 
to see how he would administer the affairs of the nation. 



Presidential 
succession. 



Cleveland's First Administration (1885-1889). 

A law was passed making provision for filling the office of 
President in the event of the death or disability 
of both the President and Vice President. By 
this law the succession devolved on the members 
of the Cabinet in the following order: the Secretary of State, 
the Secretary of the Treasury, 
the Secretary of War, the At- 
torney-general, the Postmaster- 
general, the Secretary of the 
Navy, and the Secretary of the 
Interior. 

Congress passed the Inter- 
state Commerce Act, which 
regulated the charges made by 
railroads passing through dif- 
ferent States, with the view of 
establishing just and uniform 
rates for freight and passen- 
gers. 

It also passed another more 
stringent Chinese Act, which 
prohibited the admission of Chinese into any part of the 




Cleveland. 



356 ADMINISTRATIONS SINCE THE WAR. 

United States. An exception, however, was made in favor of 

officials connected with the legation, of teachers, students, 

merchants, and travelers for pleasure. Neverthe- 

^ '^ ^ ° less, the law was easily evaded; for the Chinese 

Congress. ' -' ' 

immigrants could land on any part of British North 
America and readily cross the boundary line. 

In 1886, strikes of great magnitude occurred throughout the 
country. Some struck for higher wages, and others to make 
eight hours a day's labor. The relations between labor and 
capital were so strained that there was great danger of a gen- 
eral outbreak which would imperil every kind of property. 
Railroads ceased for a time to carry freight or passengers, 
because the strikers would neither work themselves nor permit 

others to work. In Chicago alone forty thousand 
^ °^ men were on strike, and among them anarchists and 

troubles. ' . =» 

communists, who seized the opportunity to accom- 
plish their base purposes by the use of dynamite. A meeting 
of the worst class of citizens was held at the Haymarket, 
where the most violent and incendiary speeches were deliv- 
ered. The police, fearing a riot, endeavored to scatter the 
mob; and, while doing so, some miscreant threw a dynamite 
bomb among them, which killed seven, and wounded sixty, of 
the officers. Several of the ringleaders were subsequently 
arrested and punished. 

Toward the close of Cleveland's administration the ques- 
tion of the tariff began to assume a position of great impor- 
tance ; and it soon became evident that, the old issues of the 
Civil War having virtually disappeared, the reform of the tariff 
would be the chief plank in the Democratic platform. The 

Republican party was strono^ly in favor of protect- 

The tariff. .^. . ^ , r^y 11 

ing American manufactures. Cleveland wrote a 
letter urging a tariff for revenue only, which the Republicans 
insisted meant free trade. The presidential election of 1888 
turned mainly on these two questions ; and Cleveland was 
defeated by Benjamin Harrison of Indiana, a grandson of 
President William Henry Harrison. 



HA RRISON 'S A DMINIS TRA TION. 



357 



Harrison's Administration (1889-1893). 

In 1889 the territory of Oklahoma was purchased from 
the Indians. Thousands of settlers were waiting 
for the opening of this territory, and within a few ^ "'"^ 
days its inhabitants numbered thirty thousand. 

There was a centennial celebration in the city of New York 
of the inauguration of Washington as President under the 
Federal Constitution, and the 
review of the military, and the 
parades of societies and trades, 
surpassed anything ever seen 
before in the United States. 

Four great war steamers were 
completed during this adminis- 
tration, the Chicago^ Atlanta, 
Boston, and Yorkfoian, which 
are a credit to the Republic 
which they represent in foreign 
seas. 

During Harrison's adminis- 



tration there were 

six new States ad- 




Admission . o^ ^ 1 Harrison. 

of new 

States. mitted into the Union ; viz.. North Dakota, South 
Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho, and Wyo- 
ming, the first four in 1889, and the last two in 1890. 

Serious riots occurred in New Orleans by which a number of 
Italians were killed or wounded. The direct cause was the 
assassination of the chief of police by the members of a secret 
organization known as the " Mafia." 

The Democratic candidates in November, 1892, were : Gro- 
ver Cleveland for President, and Adlai Stevenson second 
for Vice President ; and the Republican candi- election of 
dates, Benjamin Harrison for President, and White- Cleveland, 
law Reid for Vice President. Cleveland and Stevenson were 
elected. 



World's 

'olumbia 

Exposition 



358 ADMn\USTKATIOXS SINCE THE WAR. 

Cleveland's Second Administration (1893- ). 

On May i, 1893, the World's Columbian Exhibition was 
opened in Chicago. This exhibition had been for 
several years in preparation, and the industries of 

Columbian ,11,. • • 1 

the world, and its progress in arts, sciences, and 
literature during the period since the discovery 
of America, were represented on a tremendous scale by the 
various nations. The grounds devoted to the exposition 
covered more than a square mile on the lake front,, and the 
buildings erected were unsurpassed in the beauty of their 
architecture. 

In 1893 the country was depressed by a great financial 

panic, which was due to a variety of causes, but chiefly to 

an anxiety felt by the people over the effect of 

Sherman ^^^^ silver purchasino^ clause of the Sherman Act 

Act. ^ « ° 

of 1890. The discovery of a number of silver 
mines had led to a depreciation of silver, and in order to 
keep up the value of that metal as a money standard, a 
law was passed, known as the Sherman Act, which provided 
that the government should purchase four and a half million 
ounces of silver every month. An extra session of Congress 
was called, and the act was finally repealed in November, 
1893. 

The next question which agitated the country was in rela- 
tion to the tariff. In 1894 the Wilson-Gorman 

man Bin "^^^^ ^^^ passcd which reduced the tariff on many 
imported articles, and added others to the free list. 

In the summer of 1894 the western part of the country was 
paralyzed by an extensive railroad strike, which originated in 
Chicago. By July i the strike had extended from Ohio west- 
ward to California, and had assumed vast proportions. In 
Chicago there were such outbursts of violence that the militia 
was finally called out to quell the disturbance. Numerous 
conflicts occurred until Aug. 6, when the strike was declared 
at an end. 



CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 359 

In March, 1895, a new treaty was made between Japan and 
the United States, by which the latter recognized Japan's 
right, as a modern power, to control her domestic imports 
and other affairs. 

In July, 1894, a bill was passed by Congress enabling the 
people of Utah Territory to form a State consti- 
Admission ^^^^^qj^^ ^^^ providing for its subsequent admission 
into the Union as the forty-fifth State, and early 
in January, 1896, it was admitted, thus leaving but five terri- 
tories — ■ New Mexico, Arizona, Oklahoma, Indian Territory, 
and Alaska, besides the District of Columbia. 



CHAPTER L. 

BRIEF SKETCH OF THE RISE OF AMERICAN LITERATURE. 

" None but an author knows an author's cares, 
Or Fancy's fondness for the child she bears." 

The predominant passion of the period determines the Uter- 
ary bent of the people. . When war and conquest are upper- 
most in the mind, battles and sieges are usually the themes of 
orators and poets. The ballad, the oration, and the epic poem 
become the vehicles through which the emotions are reached 
and aroused. Among the early settlers of New England the 
religious feeling grew into a master passion. It molded their 
social life ; it shaped their township governments ; it was the 
mainspring of all their actions, private and public. It was 
only natural, therefore, that American literature should origi- 
nate among the Puritans, and that its beginnings should be of 
a theological character. The first thing these people did, after 
building their simple homes, was to erect a church and a school- 
house in every hamlet and village ; so that it may safely be 
affirmed that illiteracy was practically unknown. The Bible, 
of course, became the common reading book and the great 
teacher. Differences and discussions arose ; and the expound- 
ing of the Scriptures became the medium through which logical 
acuteness and intellectual ability were most readily manifested. 
Cotton Mather, the first theological writer, was born in 1663, 
and died in 1728. His mother was the daughter of the cele- 
brated John Cotton. On his father's side he was descended 
from a family of ministers who exercised great influence in 

New England during its first century. His father, 
Mather Increase Mather, was president of Harvard College 

most of the time from 1681 to 1701, and the author 
of sixty books or tracts. Cotton was graduated from this insti- 

360 



THE EARLY AUTHORS. 36 1 

tution at the early age of sixteen, and for a short period prac- 
ticed the profession of teaching. He became an excellent 
scholar ; and his works were published in English, French, 
Spanish, and Algonquin. Three hundred and eighty-two of 
his printed works have been catalogued. The Biblia America7ia^ 
his greatest work, remains in six large volumes of manuscript 
to this day. His learning, however, was better appreciated in 
Europe than it was in America. Glasgow made him a doctor 
of divinity; and he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society. 

Jonathan Edwards was born at East Windsor, Conn., in 1703, 
and died in 1758 at Princeton, of which college he had been 
chosen president. He was, perhaps, the most able theologian 
that America has produced. Like Mather, he was sprung from 
a family of ministers. He began the study of Latin at the age 
of six, and afterwards acquired a good knowledge of 
Greek and Hebrew. He was graduated from Yale 
College, in which he became for a short time a tutor. His 
mind, naturally acute and introspective, was greatly influenced 
by the study of Locke's Human Understa?idi7ig. Owing to cer- 
tain defects of person and speech he was not a successful 
preacher. It is by his writings that he has become famous. 
His most powerful work is his essay on the Freedo??i of the 
Human Will. 

Some of the other theological writers during the period of 
religious literature were Thomas Hooker, who wrote 
the Application of Redeniption ; Samuel Hopkins, the Hooker, 
author of a Systf?n of Doctrines Contained in Divine ,°J^ '"^' 

•^ -^ and Dwight. 

RevcIatioJL Explained and Defended., and of a Dia- 
logue against Slavery ; and Timothy Dwight, the grandson of 
Edwards, who wrote the Conquest of Canaan. 

The political period of American literature began its course 
at the close of the French and Indian War. Although the peo- 
ple of New England never lost their religious en- 
thusiasm, the tyranny of Great Britain in her efforts °*'^' "^"'"y- 

. . and Adams. 

to tax the colonies without representation in parlia- 
ment — in other words, without their consent — aroused a pas- 



362 BRIEF SKETCH OF AMERICAN LITERATURE. 

sionate love of freedom, which found vent in poHtical ora- 
tions and pamphlets. Among these orators were James Otis 
and John Adams of Massachusetts, and Patrick Henry of 
Virginia. 

Benjamin Franklin, the greatest writer of this period, was 
born in Boston in 1706, and died in Philadelphia in 1790. 
In him were combined the excellences of the philosopher, the 
diplomat, the statesman, and the polished writer. At the age 
of ten he began to help in his father's shop. A little later 
he was apprenticed as a printer to his elder brother. Here the 
boy had access to books, of which he made the best possible 
use. By close study and by rewriting the essays of the Specta- 
tor^ he formed an easy, graceful, and fluent style. At the age 
of fifteen he wrote anonymously for newspapers. At seven- 
teen he went to Philadelphia which henceforth 

Franklin. , • i t i i it 

became his home. In 1729, he became the editor 
of the Ft'}insylvaiiia Gazette., and three years later began the 
publication of Poor Richard^ s At??tanac. He made the impor- 
tant discovery of the identity of lightning with electricity. 
He was highly honored by the people of his adopted State, of 
which he was three times elected governor. He was appointed 
minister to France, and was chiefly instrumental in forming 
the alliance with that country — an alliance which proved so 
important a factor in the success of the American Revolution. 
His WTitings are remarkable for sound common sense, great 
worldly wisdom, clearness, simplicity, wit, and humor. 

Thomas Jefferson was born in 1743 and died in 1826. He 
is best known as the author of the Declaratio?i of Independence^ 

which, as a state paper, has never been surpassed. 

It is remarkable for its clearness, force, directness, 
and invincible adherence to truth. It is a terrible indictment 

of the tyranny of George III. and his ministers, 
ami on, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John 

Madison, ' •' j 

and Jay. Jay wrotc the celebrated essays known as the 
Federalist, explanatory of the principles of gov- 
ernment contained in the Constitution of the United States. 



BROWN AND IRVING. 



363 



The most polished and able writer of these essays was Alex- 
ander Hamilton. 

With the establishment of peace and the settlement of the 
government, literature took a new direction, namely, that of 
the novel. 

Charles Brockden Brown was born in 177 1, and died in 18 10. 
He was the first American who pursued literature as a profes- 
sion. His first work was Weihmd; or, the Trans- 
fonnation. This was followed by Ormo7id ; 01', the 
Secret Witness, Arthur Alervin, Clara Howard, and Jane Jallwt. 
He also edited the Monthly Magazine and Jjueriean Review. 
Prescott says, " He has been 
said to have formed himself 
on Godwin, and has certainly 
in some respects adopted his 
mode of operation, studying 
character with a philosophic 
rather than a poetic eye.'' 

Washington Irving was 
born in 1783, and died in 
1859. He has been justly 
termed the " American Gold- 
smith," on account of the 
ease, grace, and beauty of his 
style. In conjunction with 
his brother William, and with 
James K. Paulding, he pub- 
lished a humorous and satir- 
ical magazine entitled Salmagundi. His humorous History of 
New York by Diedrich Knickerbocker, attracted much attention, 
and The Sketch Book established his fame among 
the English-speaking people of both hemispheres. 
Irving wrote numerous other works, among which may be 
mentioned Tales of a Traveler, The Life and Voyages of Colum- 
bus, Mahomet a?td His Successors, and The Life of Washington, 
the last being considered by some as his greatest work. 




rf>^^^^" 



Irving. 



Irving. 



364 BRIEF SKETCH OF AMERICAN LITERATURE. 

James Fenimore Cooper was born in 1789, and died in 1851. 
He was in most respects the greatest novelist that America 
has produced. He pursued his studies for three years at Yale 
College, and then obtained a midshipman's commission in the 
navy, in which he served for five years. It was this experience 
as a naval officer which enabled him with such admirable skill 
to describe the movements of ships in storm and in battle. 
His first novel. Precaution^ was a comparative fail- 
ure ; but his second, The Sp}\ was a great success. 
It has been translated into most of the European languages. 
It is, however, by his novels which treat of the North American 
Indians and of the pioneer or backwoodsman that he is best 
and most widely known. Among these may be mentioned 
llie Fathfindcr and The Last of the Mohicans, In these he has 
manifested a graphic power in describing scenery unsurpassed 
by any other writer except, perhaps, by the " Wizard of the 
North," in his descriptions of lake and mountain in " Auld 
Scotia." Besides his thirty-four novels, he wrote a Histoiy of 
the United States Navy. 

James K. Paulding was born in 1779, and died in i860. He 

was associated (as previously stated) with Irving in writing 

the humorous essays in Salniagundi. He wTote the 

Paulding. ^ * 

Diverting History of John Bull and Brother fonathan, 

77ie Backwoodsvian, 77ie Dtitch^naiCs Fireside,, and several other 

novels remarkable for a vein of humorous satire. 

Joseph Rodman Drake was born in 1795, and died in 1820. 

He wrote The Culprit Fay. a beautiful poem exhibit- 
Drake. . , . . 

ing a high order of imagination; and, in 1819, The 

American Flag, which has been very much admired. 

Fitz-Greene Halleck was born in 1790, and died in 1867. 

He wrote sometimes in conjunction with Drake, under the 

name of Croaker & Co. In 1820 he published a 

Halleck. . . ^ . 

poem entitled Fanny, a satire upon the fashion- 
able follies of the day. The poem, however, by which he is 
best known is Marco Bozzaris, one of the finest warlike lyrics 
in the English language. 



AMERICAN HISTORIANS. 365 

William Cullen Bryant was born in 1794, and died in 1878. 
Like Pope, he began to write verses in childhood. In 18 16, 
at the age of nineteen, he produced Thanatopsis^ by most peo- 
ple considered his finest poem. In 1825 he became editor of 
llie Eveiwis: Post, a position which he held for fifty 

^ . . Bryant. 

years. He was an ardent advocate of the restriction 
of slavery and of the cause of the Union during the Civil*\Var. 
Most of his poems treat of Nature in some form, and they are 
all intensely American. The Death of the Flowers, To the 
Fringed Gentian, and To a Waterfowl, are among the most 
beautiful of his poems. 

William H. Prescott was born in 1796, and died in 1859. 
He was a grandson of a distinguished officer of the Revolu- 
tionary War, who commanded the Americans at the battle of 
Bunker Hill. His father was a celebrated lawyer and a judge 
of the Court of Common Pleas of Massachusetts. While a 
student in Harvard College Prescott lost by an accident the 
sight of one eye ; and the excessive use of the other eye so 
impaired it that it became almost blind. In spite of this, 
he commenced a course of reading (by being read 

* ^ -^ . 1 . , Prescott. 

to), which included the best works in English, 
French, Italian, and Spanish literature. He was particularly 
fascinated by the works of Lope de Vega and Cervantes. 
These studies seemed to have determined his literary bent. 
His first production, The History of Ferdinand and Isabella, 
raised him to the front rank of historians. Then followed The 
Conquest of Mexieo, The Conquest of Peru, and The History tf 
Philip II. of Spain. Prescott's works are remarkable for 
conscientious research, clearness, beauty of style, and perfect 
impartiality. 

George Bancroft was born in 1800, and died in 1891. He 
has written the most thorough and perfect History of the 
United States yet produced. It has been the lov- 

J ^ .11 Bancroft. 

ing labor of a long life, and has received the 

highest praise from the critics of Europe and America. It 

is clear and accurate, and invaluable as a reference book. 



366 BRIEF SKETCH OF AMERICAiV LITERATURE. 



Emerson. 



John Lothrop Motley was born in 1814, and died in 1877. 

He has written three great historical works, The Rise of the 

Dutch Republic, The History of the United JVether- 

Motiey, /^^^/^^^^ ^^^ jy^^ ^^y-^ ^jr j^/^,^ ^jr Banievcld. Several 

McMaster Other historians might be mentioned were there room 
in a short chapter such as this must necessarily be. 
Of living historians John Fiske and McMaster have done the 
best work ; and there seems a bright future for both of them. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson was born in Boston in 1803, and died 
in 1882. He was educated for the ministry, but soon left the 
church and devoted himself to giving lectures. 
These lectures, somewhat modified and polished, 
make up his famous Essays. He had a strong faith in human 
nature, and tried to inspire his hearers with high ideals. He 

is also well known as a poet, 
one of his most beautiful poems 
being the Concord Hymn. 

Nathaniel Hawthorne was 
born in 1804, in Salem, and 
died in 1864. He passed his 
early days in great solitude, 
with only his thoughts and his 
books for companions. He 
created a new style of writing, 
which he called the romance. 
In 1837 a number of his tales 
which had appeared in pam- 
phlet form were published under 
the title of Twice Told Tales; 
and in 1850 he brought forth his 
first larger work. The Scarlet Let- 
ter. Thereafter he wrote prolifically for old and young alike. 
The Marble Faun is one of the best products of his genius. 
His stories for children. The Wonder Book and 
Tangleiuood Tales, are especially charming; and all 
his works are characterized by intense originality. 




Emerson. 



Hawthorne. 



LONGFELLOW, 



367 



Longfellow. 



Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine, 
in 1807, and died in 1882. From his youth up he was fond 
of reading, and as a lad he loved nothing better 
than to lie under a tree with a book in his hand. At 
the age of thirteen he entered Bowdoin College, and he was 
graduated at seventeen. The college authorities thought so 
highly of his abilities that they sent him to Europe to prepare 
himself as professor of modern languages ; and for three years 
he traveled through France, Italy, Spain, and Germany, making 
himself thoroughly familiar with the languages. He returned 
to America in 1829; and he 
was then, with the exception of 
George Ticknor (the professor 
of modern languages at Har- 
vard), the most accomplished 
scholar in the country in the 
languages of Europe. After 
teaching for five years at Bow- 
doin he was elected a profes- 
sor of Harvard College, where 
he taught for seventeen years, 
during which time he produced 
many of his most popular 
poems. He is entitled to the 
highest rank among American Longfellow. 

poets. His first work, Voices 

of the Night., made him famous, as it were, by a single bound. 
This was followed in regular order by Ballads and other Poems., 
The Spanish Studefit, Poets aJid Poetry of Europe, Evangeline, 
The Golden Legend, The Song of Hiaivatha, and The Courtship 
of Miles Standish. His prose works are Hyperion, Outre Mer, 
and Kavanagh. The Song of Hiawatha is the most American 
and popular of all his works. His poetry is remarkable for 
depth and tenderness of feeling, and the charm and sweet- 
ness of its rhythm. His Psahn of Life is one of the very 
best short poems in the English language. 




3t)« BRIEF SKETCH OF AMERICAN LITERATURE. 




John Greenleaf Whittier was born in 1807, at Haverhill, 
ATass., and died in 1892. In some respects he is tl>e most 

national of all American poets. He 
has written some of the most spirit- 
stirring and inspiring poems which 
appeared during the great anti- 
slavery agitation. His principal 
poems are SoJigs of Labor, The 
Chapel of the HennHs^ Hoi?ie Bal- 
lads and Foems^ In War Tivu\ 
Natio7ial Lyrics^ Snowboimd^ TJie 
Tent on the Beach, and Ballads cf 
New England. 

Edgar Allan Poe was born in 
Boston in 1809, and died in 1849. 
At an early age he gave evi- 
dence of literary genius, and he 
Whittier. proved himself one of the most 

original writers our country has 
produced ; but his life was a sad failure, and he died in pov- 
erty in his prime. His writings consisted of short stories and 
poems, the most famous of his poems being 27ie 
Raven. 
Oliver Wendell Holmes was born in Cambridge in 1809, and 
died in 1894. He devoted himself to medicine as a profes- 
sion, and became one of the most eminent physi- 
cians of Boston. In the midst of his busy career 
he found time to send occasional poems to the reviews of the 
day, but it was not until 1857 that he made himself famous in 
literature by the publication of The Autocrat of the Breakfast 
Table., the first of the series of essays in which his deep thoughts 
on human nature and his sparkling wit found full play. Later 
Holmes wrote several novels, but it is by his essays and some 
of his poems that he is best known and beloved. 

James Russell Lowell was born in Cambridge in 1819, and 
died in 189 1. At the age of twenty-five he married Miss 



Holmes. 



LOWELL, STOWE, AND OTHERS. 369 

White, an ardent abolitionist, and thereafter he devoted him- 
self unswervingly to the antislavery cause, which he greatly 
encouraged and aided by his passionate poems. 
Lowell is also famous for his essays, Amo?ig My °^^"- 
Books, My Study Windows, and others. 

Harriet Beecher Stowe was born in 181 1. She owes her 

popularity to a novel on slavery — Unc/e Tom's Cabin 

which has been more widely read and more exten- 
sively translated than any other work of the century. to^e. 
Its influence in gaining supporters to the cause of abolition 
has been incalculable. 

Limited space will not permit more than the mere mention 
of a host of other brilliant writers, such as Whitman, Curtis, 
Whipple, Thoreau, Parkman, Stedman, Read, Tay- 
lor, Holland, Eggleston, Hale, Warner, and Clem- ^.^^ 

' ' ^^ ' ' ' authors. 

ens; and among women, Margaret Fuller, Louisa 

May Alcott, Adeline D. T. Whitney, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, 

Frances Hodgson Burnett, and Harriet Prescott Spofford. 

HUNT. U. S. HIST. — 24 



TRANSFERS OF TERRITORY 



THE UNITED STATES. 



( The numerals refer to the map on tJie next page,') 



T and 2. — Part of original State of Massachusetts erected into State of INIaine, 1820. 
3.— Part of public land of the United States. 
4. — One of original thirteen States. 

5. — Formed into State of Vermont in 1701 out of the State of New York. 
6. — One of original thirteen States ; included i and 2, and extended west to the Miss- 
issippi River. 

7. — One of original thirteen States. 

8. — One of original thirteen States ; originally extended west to the Mississippi River. 
9. — One of original thirteen States ; originally including 5 ; a claim of Massachusetts to 
portion of territory of southern New York was settled in 1786 by a convention at Hart- 
ford. 

10. — One of original thirteen States. 

ir. — One of original thirteen States; in 1792, 89 added. 

12. — One of original thirteen States. 

13. — One of original thirteen Slates; originally embraced i;:| and 14. 

14. — Ceded to the United States for a capital city by Maryland in 1790. 

15. — Ceded to the United States for a capital city by Virginia in 1790; retroceded 
to Virginia by United States in 1846. 

16. — One of original thirteen States; originally embraced 15, 16, 17, 18, 54, and 55. 

17. — Formed into State of West Virginia out of Virginia in 1863. 

18. — Formed into State of Kentucky, 1792, out of Virginia. 

19. — One of original thirteen States; originally embraced 19 and 20. 

20. — Ceded to United States by North Carolina in 1790, and with 23, 24, and 28 erected 
into the Territory south of the Ohio River; admitted as State, 1796. 

21. — One of original thirteen States; originally comprised 21, 23, 24, and 28. 

22. — One of original thirteen States; originally comprised 22, 25, 26, 27, and 29. 

23. — Ceded by South Carolina to United States in 1787; in 1790 transferred to Terri- 
tory south of Ohio River (23, 24, 28, and 20) ; in 1802 ceded to Georgia. 

24. — Ceded by South Carolina to United States in 1787 ; in 1790 transferred to Terri- 
tory south of Ohio River ; in 1804 to Mississippi Territory ; in 1817 to Alabama Territory, 
and in 1819 to State of Alabama. 

25. — Ceded by Georgia to United States, 1802; transferred to Mississippi Territory, 
1804; to Alabama Territory, 1817; and to State of Alabama, 1819. 

26. — Erected, with 27, into Mississippi Territory, 1798, subject to Georgia's claims, 
which were ceded to the United States, 1802; to Alabama Territory 1817; to State of 
Alabama, 1819. 

27. — Same as 26 until 1817, when erected into State of Mississippi. 

28. — Ceded to United States by South Carolina, 1787; joined to Territory south of 
Ohio River, 1790; transferred to Mississippi Territory, 1804; and to State of Mississippi, 
1817. 



13° 109' 



105 Lonffiiude Wei 




Longitude We 



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SI 77° 


7:<° 09 




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A 


A 


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O UL 



JISITION AND DISTRIBUTION 

TERPaTORY. ^Al^-""' 

By Russell Hinman.C.E. 

I 

n Washiiifflo 



TRANSFEJ^S OF TERRITORY. 371 

29. — Ceded to United States by Georgia, 1802; transferred to Mississippi Territoryf 
1804; and to State of Mississippi, 1817. 

30. — Ceded to United States by France, 1803; transferred to Mississippi Territory, 
1812; and to State of Mississippi, 1817. 

31. — Ceded to United States by France, 1803; transferred to Mississippi Territory, 
1812; to Alabama Territory, 1817; State of Alabama, i8ig. 

32. — Ceded to United States by Spain, 1819; erected into Florida Territory, 1822; 
into State of Florida, 1845. 

33. — Ceded to United States by France, 1803 ; transferred to State of Louisiana, 1812. 

34. — Ceded to United States by France, 1803; erected into Territory of Orleans, 1804; 
admitted as State of Louisiana, 1812. 

35.* — Ceded to United States by France, 1803; included in district Louisiana in 1804 ; 
in Territory Louisiana, 1805; in Territory Missouri, 1812; erected into Arkansas Terri- 
tory, 1819; admitted as State of Arkansas, 1836. 

36. — Admitted as State of Missouri, 1821. 

37. — Added to State of Missouri, 1836. 

38. — Annexed to Territory of Michigan, 1834; to Territory Wisconsin, 1836; to Terri- 
tory Iowa, 1838 ; admitted as part of State of Iowa, 1846. 

39. — Same as above to and including admission to Territory Iowa; transferred to State 
of Iowa, 1846. 

40. — Same as 39; transferred from State to Territory Iowa, 1846; to Territory Minne- 
sota, 1849 ; to State Minnesota, 1858. 

41.— Annexed to Territory Michigan, 1834; Territory Wisconsin, 1836; Territory 
Iowa, 1838; Territory Minnesota, 1849; State IVIinnesota, 1858. 

42. — As above, to and including Territory Minnesota, 1849; included in Territory 
Dakota, 1861 ; to State South Dakota, 1889. 

43. — Transferred from Territory Missouri to Territory Nebraska, 1854; to Territory 
Dakota, 1861 ; to State South Dakota, 1889. 

44.— Ceded by Great Britain, 1783; included in Territory northwest Ohio River, 1787; 
to Territory Indiana, 1800; to Territory Illinois, 1809; to Territory Michigan, 1818 ; to 
Territory Wisconsin, 1836; to Territory Minnesota, 1849; to State Minnesota, 1858. 

45. — As above, to and including Territory Wisconsin, 1836 ; admitted as State Wiscon- 
sin, 1848. 

46.— As 44, to and including Territory Michigan, 1818; to State Michigan, 1837. 

47.— Ceded by Great Britain, 1783; Territory northwest Ohio River, 1787; Territory 
Indiana, 1800; Territory Michigan, 1818 ; Territory Wisconsin, 1836; StateWisconsin, 1848. 

48.— Ceded by Great Britain, 1783; transferred to Territory northwest Ohio River, 
1787; Territory Indiana, 1800; Territory Michigan, 1818 ; State Michigan, 1837. 

49. — Ceded by Cireat Britain, 1783; transferred to Territory northwest Ohio River, 
1787; Territory Indiana, 1800; Territory Michigan, 1805; State Michigan, 1837. 

50.— Ceded by Great Britain ; transferred to Territory northwest Ohio River, 1787; 
Territory Indiana, 1802; Territory Michigan, 1805; State Michigan, 1837. 

51.— Ceded by Great Britain, 1783; transferred to Territory northwest Ohio River, 
1787; to Territory Michigan, 1805; to State Ohio, 1836. 

52. — Ceded by Great Britain, 1783; transferred to Territory northwest Ohio River, 
1787; Territory Indiana, 1800; Territory Michigan, 1805; to State Indiana, 1816. 

53.— North of 41st parallel ceded by Great Britain, 1783; south of same by Virginia, 
1784; Territory northwest Ohio River, 1787; admitted as State Ohio, 1803. 

54. —North of 41st parallel ceded by Great Britain, 1783; south of same by Virginia, 
1784; Territory northwest Ohio River, 1787; Territory Indiana, 1800; State Indiana, 
1816. 

55.— North of 41st parallel ceded by Great Britain, 1783; south of same by Virginia, 
1784; Territory northwest Ohio River, 1787; Territory Indiana, 1800; Territory Illinois, 
1809; State Illinois, 1818. 

56.— Territory Nebraska, 1854 ; State Nebraska, 1867. 

57. — Territory Kansas, 1854; State Kansas, 1861. 

58.— Ceded by Texas, 185a; transferred to Territory Kansas, 1854; State Kansas, 1861. 

59.— Ceded by Texas, 1850; first organized with Oklahoma Territory, 1890. 

60.— Ceded by France, 1803; declared " Indian country," 1834. 



*A11 of the French cession west of the Mississippi River (except 34) was ceded to the 
United States as the "Province of Louisiana" in 1803; erected into district of Louisiana, 
1804; into Territory of Louisiana, 1805; into Territory of Missouri, 1812. The subsequent 
descriptions of territory within the French cession will be carried on from this point,— 
and a repetition of these changes common to all, avoided. 



372 mANSFEJ^S OF TERRITORY. 

6i.— The independent republic of Texas, admitted as State of Texas, 1845. 

62. — Ceded by Texas, 1850; transferred to Territory Kansas, 1854; Territory Colorado, 
1861 ; State Colorado, 1876. 

63. — Ceded by 'Texas, 1850; transferred to Territory New Mexico, 1850; Territory 
Colorado, r86i ; State Colorado, 1876. 

64. — Ceded by Texas, 1850; transferred to Territory New Mexico, 1850. 

65. — Ceded by Mexico, 1848; transferred to Territory New Mexico, 1850. 

66.— Ceded by Mexico, 1848; transferred to Territory New Mexico, 1850; Territory 
Arizona, 1863. 

67. — Ceded by Mexico, 1853; transferred to Territory New Mexico, 1854; to Territory 
Arizona, 1863. 

68. — Ceded by Mexico, 1853; transferred to Territory New Mexico, 1854. 

6^. — Ceded by Mexico, 1848; transferred to Territory New Mexico, 1850; to Territory 
Arizona, 1863; to State Nevada, 1866. 

70.— Ceded by Mexico, 1848 ; transferred to Territory Utah, 1850 ; Territory Nevada, 
1861; erected into State Nevada, 1864. 

71. — Ceded by Mexico, 1848 ; transferred to Territory Utah, 1850; State Nevada, 1866. 

72. — Ceded by Mexico, 1848 ; admitted as State of California, 1850. 

73. — Ceded by Mexico, 1848 ; Territory Utah, 1850; admitted as State, 1896. 

74. — Ceded by Mexico, 1848; Territory Utah, 1850; Territory Colorado, 1861 ; State 
Colorado, 1876. 

75. — Ceded by France, 1803 ; Territory Missouri to Territory Nebraska, 1854 J Terri- 
tory Colorado, 1861 ; State Colorado, 1876. 

76. — Ceded by France, 1803 *, Territory Missouri to Territory Kansas, 1854 ; to Terri- 
tory Colorado, 1861 ; to State Colorado, 1876. 

77. — Ceded by Mexico, 1848, to Territory of Utah, 1850; Territory Nebraska, 1861 ; 
Territory Idaho, 1863; Ter. Dakota, 1864; Ter. Wyoming, 1868; State Wyoming, 1890. 

78.— Ceded by Mexico, 1848; Territory Utah, 1850; Ter. Wyoniing, 1868 ; State, i8yo. 

79. — (The claim of the United States to 79, 80, 84, 85, 86, and 87 is based upon firSt dis- 
covery of Columbia River in 1792; first exploration, by Lewis and Clark, in 1805; first 
settlement at Astoria, in 1811. Claims allowed by Spain in treaty of 1819, and by Great 
Britain in treaty of 1846) to Territory Oregon, 1848 ; Ter. Washington, 1853 ; Ter. Idaho, 
1863; Ter. Wyoming, 1868; State Wyoming, 1890. 

80. — See 79; to Territory Oregon, 1848; Ter. Washington, 1853; Ter. Nebraska, 1861 ; 
Ter. Idaho, 1863; Ter. Dakota, 1864; Ter. Wyoming, 1868; State Wyoming, 1890. 

81. — Ceded by France in 1803 (except southwest corner, which was ceded by Mexico 
in 1848); transferred to Territory Nebraska, 1854: Territory Idaho, 1861; Territory 
Dakota, 1864 ; Territory Wyoming, 1868 ; State Wyoming, 1890. 

82. — Ceded by France, 1803 ; transferred to Ter. Nebraska, 1854 ; Ter. Dakota, 1861 ; 
Ter. Idaho, 1863; Ter. Dakota, 1864; Ter. Wyoming, i868; State Wyoming, 1890. 

83. — Ceded by France, 1803 ; transferred to Territory Nebraska, 1854 ; Territory 
Dakota, 1861 ; Territory Idaho, 1863 ; Territory Montana, 1864; State Montana, 1889. 

84. — See 79 ; to Territory Oregon, 1848 ; Territory Washington, 1853; Territory Idaho, 
1863; Territory Montana, 1864; State Montana, 1889. 

85. — See 79; to Territory Oregon, 1848 ; Territory Washington, 1853 ! Territory Idaho, 
1863 ; State Idaho, 1890. 

86.— See 79; to Territory Oregon, 1848; Territory Washington, 1853; State Washing- 
ton, 1889. 

87.— See 79 ; to Territory Oregon, 1848 ; State Oregon, 1859. 

88.— Ceded by France, 1803; transferred to Territory Nebraska, 1854 ; Territory 
Dakota, 1861 ; Territory Idaho, 1863 ; Territory Dakota, 1864 ; Territory Montana, 1873 ; 
State Montana, 1889. 

89.— Ceded by State of New York, 1781, and Massachusetts, 1785, to United States; 
transferred to Pennsylvania, 1792. 

90. — Ceded by Russia, 1867; Territory of Alaska in 1884. 

91. — As 42 to 1889 when it was transferred to State North Dakota. 

92. — As 43 to 1889 when it was transferred to State North Dakota. 

93.— Ceded by France, 1803; declared " Indian country," 1834; Territory Oklahoma, 
1890. 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. 

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of 

America. 



When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to 
dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to as- 
sume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which 
the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the 
opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel 
thepa to the separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident : that all men are created equal ; that 
they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights ; that among 
these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these rights, 
governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the con- 
sent of the governed. That, whenever any form of government becomes de- 
structive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to 
institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organ- 
izing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their 
safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate, that governments long 
established should not be changed for light and transient causes ; and, accord- 
ingly, all experience hath shown that mankind are more dispo^d to suffer, while 
evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which 
they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursu- 
ing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute 
despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and 
to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient suf- 
ferance of these colonies, and such is now the necessity which constrains them 
to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King 
of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in 

373 



374 DECLARATION- OP INDEPENDENCE. 

direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these States. To 
prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world : 

He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary for the 
public good. 

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing im- 
portance, unless suspended in their operations till his assent should be obtained ; 
and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. 

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of 
people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the 
legislature — a right inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and 
distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of 
fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. 

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly for opposing, with manly 
firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people. 

He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, to cause others to be 
elected, whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned 
to the people at large for their exercise ; the State remaining, in the meantime, 
exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without and convulsions within. 

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States ; for that pur- 
pose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners ; refusing to pass others 
to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new appro- 
priations of lands. 

He has obstructed the administration of justice by refusing his assent to laws 
for establishing judiciary powers. 

He has made judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure of their offices, 
and the amount and payment of their salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers 
to harass our people and eat out their substance. 

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies, without the con- 
sent of our legislatures. 

He has affected to render the military independent of, and superior to, the 
civil power. 

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our con- 
stitution, and unacknowledged by our laws ; giving his assent to their acts of 
pretended legislation : 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: 

For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any murders which 
they should commit on tbe inhabitants of these States : 

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world : 

For imposing taxes on us without our consent : 

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury : 

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses : 

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, es- 



DECLARATIOiV OF INDEPENDENCE. 3/5 

tablishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to 
render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute 
rule into these colonies : 

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering, 
fundamentally, the forms of our governments : 

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with 
power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. 

He has abdicated government here by declaring us out of his protection, and 
waging war against us. 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and de- 
stroyed the lives of our people. 

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete 
the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances 
of cruelty and perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and 
totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation. 

He has constrained our fellow-citizens taken captive on the high seas, to bear 
arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and 
brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands. 

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to 
bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the merciless Indian savages, whose 
known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and 
conditions. 

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most 
humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated 
injury. A prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define 
a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. 

Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have 
warned them, from time to time, of attempts by their legislature to extend an 
unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circum- 
stances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their 
native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them, by the ties of our 
common kindred, to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt 
our connections and correspondence. They, too, have been deaf to the voice 
of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity 
which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of man- 
kind — enemies in war; in peace, friends. 

We, therefore, the representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 
in General Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the 
world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name and by authority of 
the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare. That these 
united colonies are, and of right ought to be. Free and Independent States ; that 
they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political 
connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, 
totally dissolved ; and that, as Free and Independent States, they have full power 



37^ DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 

to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do 
all other acts and things which Independent States may of right do. And for the 
support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine 
Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our 
sacred honor. 

JOHN HANCOCK. 

New Hampshire. — Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton. 

Massachusetts Bay. — Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, 
Elbridge Gerry. 

Rhode Island, Etc.— Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery. 

Connecticut, — Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, 
Oliver Wolcott. 

New York. — William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris. 

New Jersey. — Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, 
John Hart, Abraham Clark. 

Pennsylvania. — Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John 
Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George 
Ross. 

Delaware. — Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas M'Kean. 

Maryland. — Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll 
of Carrollton. 

Virginia. — George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin 
Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton. 

North Carolina. — William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn. 

South Carolina. — Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas 
Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton. 

Georgia. — Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF 
AMERICA. 



We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, 
establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, 
promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and 
our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of 
America. 

ARTICLE I. Section i. — i. All legislative powers herein granted shall be 
vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and 
House of Representatives, 

Section 2. — i. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members 
chosen every second year by the people of the several States ; and the electors 
in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most nu- 
merous branch of the State legislature. 

2. No person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the age 
of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United States, and 
who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State in which he shall be 
chosen. 

3. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several 
States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective 
numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free per- 
sons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians 
not taxed, three' fifths of all other persons. The actual enumeration shall be 
made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United 
States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they 
shall by law direct. The number of Representatives shall not exceed one for 
every thirty thousand, but each State shall have at least one Representative ; and 
until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be en- 
titled to choose three ; Massachusetts, eight ; Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations, one; Connecticut, five; New York, six ; New Jersey, four; Penn- 
sylvania, eight ; Delaware, one ; Maryland, six ; Virginia, ten ; North Carolina, 
five ; South Carolina, five ; and Georgia, three. 

4. When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, the executive 
authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies. 

377 



378 coNSTrruTioN of the united states. 

5. The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other offi- 
cers, and shall have the sole power of impeachment. 

Section 3. — i. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two 
Senators from each State, chosen by the legislature thereof, for six years ; and 
each Senator shall have one vote. 

2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first elec- 
tion, they shall be divided as equally as may be, into three classes. The seats of 
the Senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second 
year, of the second class at the expiration of the fourth year, and of the third 
class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that one third may be chosen every 
second year ; and if vacancies happen, by resignation or otherwise, during the 
recess of the legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary 
appointments until the next meeting of the legislature, which shall then fill such 
vacancies. 

3. No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the age of 
thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and who shall 
not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen. 

4. The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, 
but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided. 

5. The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a president pro 
tempore, in the absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the office 
of President of the United States. 

6. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When sit- 
ting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President 
of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside ; and no person shall 
be convicted without the concurrence of two thirds of the members present. 

7. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal 
from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or 
profit, under the United States; but the party convicted shall nevertheless be 
liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment, according to law. 

Section 4. — i. The times, places, and manner of holding elections for Sen- 
ators and Representatives shall be prescribed in each State b^ the legislature 
thereof; but the Congress may, at any time, by law, make or alter such regula- 
tions, except as to the places of choosing Senators. 

2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting 
shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by law appoint a 
different day. 

Section 5. — i. Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and 
qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a 
quorum to do business ; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and 
may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members in such manner 
and under such penalties as each House may provide. 

2. Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members 
for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two thirds, expel a member. 



COMSTITUTIOM OP TIlS UNITED STATES;. 379 

3. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time 
publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy ; 
and the yeas and nays of the members of either House, on any question, shall, 
at the desire of one fifth of those present, be entered on the journal. 

4. Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, without the consent 
of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that 
in which the two Houses shall be sitting. 

Section 6, — i. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compensa- 
tion for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the Treasury of 
the United States. They shall, in all cases except treason, felony, and breach of 
the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their 
respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same ; and for any 
speech or debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other place. 

2, No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was 
elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United States 
which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been in- 
creased, during such time ; and no person holding any office under the United 
States shall be a member of either House during his continuance in office. 

Section 7. — i. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of 
Representatives ; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments, as on 
other bills. 

2. Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the 
Senate, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the President of the United 
States ; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it with his objec- 
tions to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objec- 
tions at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such 
reconsideration, two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be 
sent, together with the objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise 
be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a 
law. But in all such cases the votes of both Houses shall be determined by 
yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall 
be entered on the journal of each House respectively. If any bill shall not be 
returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have 
been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had 
signed it, unless the Congress, by their adjournment, prevent its return, in which 
case.it shall not be a law. 

3. Every order, resolution, or vote, to which the concurrence of the Senate 
and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of ad- 
journment) shall be presented to the President of the United States, and before 
the same shall take effect shall be approved by him, or, being disapproved by 
him, shall be re-passed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representa- 
tives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill. 

Section 8. — The Congress shall have power — 

I. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the debts and 



38o CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States ; but 
all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States ; 

2. To borrow money on the credit of the United States ; 

3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States, 
and with the Indian tribes ; 

4. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the 
subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States ; 

5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof and of foreign coin, and fix 
the standard of weights and measures ; 

6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current 
coin of the United States; 

7. To establish post-oflfices and post-roads ; 

8. To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for 
limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective 
writings and discoveries ; 

9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court ; 

10. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and 
offenses against the law of nations ; 

11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules con- 
cerning captures on land and water ; 

12. To raise and support armies; but no appropriation of money to that use 
shall be for a longer term than two years ; 

13. To provide and maintain a navy ; 

14. To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval 
forces ; 

15. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, 
suppress insurrections, and repel invasions ; 

16. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia, and for 
governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United 
States, reserving to the States respectively the appointment of the officers and 
the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by 
Congress ; 

17. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever over such district 
(not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular States and the 
acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United 
States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of 
the legislature of the State in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, 
magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and other needful buildings ; and, 

18. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into 
execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution 
in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof. 

Section 9. — i. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the 
States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the 
Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 38 1 

duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each 
person. 

2. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless 
when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it. 

3. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed. 

4. No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the 
census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to be taken. 

5. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State. No pref- 
erence shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of 
one State over those of another ; nor shall vessels bound to or from one State 
be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another. 

6. No money shall be drawn from the treasury but in consequence of appro- 
priations made by law ; and a regular statement and account of the receipts and 
expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time. 

7. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States ; and no person 
holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of the 
Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title,, of any kind what- 
ever, from any king, prince, or foreign state. 

Section 10. — i. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confedera- 
tion ; grant letters of marque and reprisal ; coin money ; emit bills of credit ; 
make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts ; pass any 
bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, 
or grant any title of nobility. 

2. No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or 
duties on imports or exports except what may be absolutely necessary for exe- 
cuting its inspection laws : and the net produce of all duties and imposts laid by 
any State on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the treasury of the United 
States ; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the 
Congress. No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of ton- 
nage, keep troops or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or 
compact with another State or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless 
actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay. 

ARTICLE II. Section i. — i. The executive power shall be vested in a Pres- 
ident of the United States of America, He shall hold his office during the term 
of four years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same term, 
be elected as follows: 

2. Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof may 
direct, a number of Electors equal to the whole number of Senators and Repre- 
sentatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress ; but no Senator or 
Representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United 
States, shall be appointed an Elector. 

Clause J has been superseded by the 12th Article of Amendments. 

4. The Congress may determine the time of choosing the Electors, and the 
day on which they shall give their votes ; which day shall be the same through- 
out the United States. 



382 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

5. No person, except a natural-bom citizen, or a citizen of the United States 
at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of 
President ; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have 
attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within 
the United States. 

6. In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resig- 
nation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of said office, the same 
shall devolve on the Vice President ; and the Congress may by law provide for 
the case of removal, death, resignation, or inability, botl^ of the President and 
Vice President, declaring what officer shall then act as President, and such offi- 
cer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed or a President shall be 
elected. 

7. The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services a compensation, 
which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which he 
shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other 
emolument from the United States, or any of them. 

8. Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following 
oath or affirmation : 

" I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of 
President of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, pro- 
tect, and defend the Constitution of the United States." 

Section 2. — i. The President shall be commander in chief of the army and 
navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several States when called 
into the actual service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in 
writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any 
subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power 
to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in 
cases of impeachment. 

2. He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to 
make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall 
nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint 
Embassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court, 
and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein 
otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law ; but the Congress 
may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers as they think proper, 
in the President alone, in the Courts of law, or in the heads of Departments. 

3. The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen 
during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at 
the end of their next session. 

Section 3. — He shall, from time to time, give to the Congress information of 
the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as 
ho shall judge necessary and expedient ; he may, on extraordinary occasions, 
convene both Houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between 
them with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 383 

time as he shall think proper ; he shall receive Embassadors and other public 
Ministers; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall com- 
mission all the officers of the United States. 

Section 4. — The President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the United 
States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, 
treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. 

ARTICLE III. Section i. — The judicial power of the United States shall 
be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress 
may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the Supreme 
and inferior Courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at 
stated times, receive for their services a compensation which shall not be dimin- 
ished during their continuance in office. 

Section 2. — i. The judicial power shall extend to all cases in law and equity 
arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, 
or which shall be made, under their authority ; to all cases affecting Embassadors, 
other public Ministers, and Consuls ; to all cases of admiralty and maritime juris- 
diction ; to controversies to which the United States shall be a party ; to contro- 
versies between two or more States; between a State and citizens of another 
State ; between citizens of different States ; between citizens of the same State 
claiming lands under grants of different States ; and between a State, or the cit- 
izens thereof, and foreign states, citizens, or subjects. 

2. In all cases affecting Embassadors, other public Ministers, and Consuls, and 
those in which a State shall be a party, the Supreme Court shall have original 
jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall 
have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions and 
under such regulations as the Congress shall make. 

3. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury ; 
and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes shall have been 
committed ; but when not committed within any State, the trial shall be at such 
place or places as the Congress may by law have directed. 

Section 3.— i. Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying 
war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. 
No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two wit- 
nesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court. 

2. The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, but 
no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture, except dur- 
ing the life of the person attainted. 

ARTICLE IV. Section i.— Full faith and credit shall be given in each 
State to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State. 
And the Congress may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such 
acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof. 

Section 2. — i. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges 
and immunities of citizens in the several States. 

2. A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other crime, who 



384 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, shall, on demand of the 
executive authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be re- 
moved to the State having jurisdiction of the crime. 

3. No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, es- 
caping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be 
discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the 
party to whom such service or labor may be due. 

Section 3.— i. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; 
but no new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other 
State ; nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more States, or parts 
of States, without the consent of the legislatures of the States concerned as well 
as of the Congress. 

2. The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules 
and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United 
States ; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice 
any claims of the United States or of any particular State. 

Section 4. — The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a 
republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion ; 
and, on application of the legislature, or of the Executive (when the legislature 
can not be convened) against domestic violence. 

ARTICLE V. — The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall 
deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the 
application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a 
convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to 
all intents and purposes as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legis- 
latures of three fourths of the several States, or by conventions in three fourths 
thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the 
Congress : provided, that no Amendment which may be made prior to the year 
one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and 
fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article ; and that no State, without 
its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate. 

ARTICLE VI. — I. All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before 
the adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States 
under this Constitution as under the Confederation. 

2. This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made 
in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the 
authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land ; and the 
judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or 
laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. 

3. The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of 
the several State legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the 
United States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to 
support this Constitution ; but no religious test shall ever be required as a quali- 
fication to any office or public trust under the United States. 



CONSTITUTION- OF I HE IGNITED STATES. 385 

ARTICLE VII. — The ratification of the Conventions of nine States shall be 
sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratify- 
ing the same. 



AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 

ARTICLE I. — Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of 
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of 
speech or of the press ; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to 
petition the government for a redress of grievances. 

ARTICLE II. — A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a 
free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. 

ARTICLE III. — No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any 
house without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to 
be prescribed by law. 

ARTICLE IV. — The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, 
papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be vio- 
lated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath 
or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the per- 
sons or things to be seized. 

ARTICLE V. — No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise 
infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except 
in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia when in actual 
service in time of war or public danger ; nor shall any person be subject for the 
same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of hfe or limb ; nor shall be compelled 
in any criminal case to be a witness against himself; nor be deprived of life, 
liberty, or property, without due process of law ; nor shall private property be 
taken for public use without just compensation. 

ARTICLE VI. — In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the 
right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district 
wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been pre- 
viously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the 
accusation ; to be confronted with the witnesses against him ; to have compulsory 
process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel 
for his defense. 

ARTICLE VII. — In suits at common law where the value in controversy 
shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no 
fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United 
States, than according to the rules of the common law. 

ARTICLE VIII. — Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines 
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 

ARTICLE IX. — The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall 
not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. 

HUNT. U. S. HIST. — 25 



2,86 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

ARTICLE X. — The powers not delegated to the United States by the Con- 
stitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, 
or to the people. 

ARTICLE XL— The judicial power of the United States shall not be con- 
strued to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against 
one of the United States by citizens of another State, or by citizens or subjects 
of any foreign state. 

ARTICLE XII. — The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote 
by ballot for President and Vice President, one of whom, at least, shall not be 
an inhabitant of the same State with themselves ; they shall name in their ballots 
the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as 
Vice President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as Pres- 
ident, and of all persons voted for as Vice President, and of the number of votes 
for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat 
of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. 
The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of 
Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted ; 
the person having the greatest number of votes for President shall be the Presi- 
dent, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed ; 
and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest 
numbers, not exceeding three, on the list of those voted for as President, the 
House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. 
But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the represen- 
tation from each State having one vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist 
of a member or members from two thirds of the States, and a majority of all the 
States shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives 
shall not choose a President, whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon 
them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice President 
shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disa- 
bility of the President. The person having the greatest number of votes as 
Vice President shall be the Vice President, if such number be a majority of the 
whole number of Electors appointed ; and if no person have a majority, then 
from the two highest numbers on the list the Senate shall choose the Vice Pres- 
ident ; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two thirds of the whole number 
of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. 
But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be 
eligible to that of Vice President of the United States. 

ARTICLE XIII, — I. Neither Slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a 
punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall 
exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. 

2, Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation, 

ARTICLE XIV. — I. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, 
and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of 
the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which 



CONSTITUTION- OF THE UNITED STATES. 387 

shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States ; nor 
shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due 
process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protec- 
tion of the laws. 

2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according 
to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each 
State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election 
for the choice of Electors for President and Vice President of the United States, 
Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a State, or the 
members of the legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of 
such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or 
in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion or other crime, the basis 
of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of 
such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one 
years of age in such State. 

3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or Elector of 
President or Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the 
United States, or under any State, who, h^.ving previously taken an oath, as a 
member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of 
any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to sup- 
port the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or 
rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But 
Congress may, by a vote of two thirds of each House, remove such disability. 

4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, in- 
cluding debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in sup- 
pressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the 
United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred 
in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the 
loss or emancipation of any slave ; but all such debts, obligations, and claims 
shall be held illegal and void. 

5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the 
provisions of this article, 

ARTICLE XV.— I. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall 
not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any State, on account of 
race, color, or previous condition of servitude. 

2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legis- 
lation. 



3^' 



TABLE OF STATES. 



SETTLEMENT AND ADMISSION OF THE STATES. 







Settlement. 


Date 


States. 








OF Ad- 










Date. 


1 Place. 


V.J Whom Settled. 


mission. 


Alabama, 


1702 


Mobile Bay, 


French, 


1819 


Arkansas, 


16S5 


Arkansas Post, 


French, 


1836 


California, 


1769 


San Diego, 


Spaniards, 


1850 


Colorado, 


1S59 


Denver, 


Americans, 


1876 


Connecticut, 


i^'33 


Windsor, 


English, 


17S8* 


Delaware, 


1638 


Wilmington, 


Swedes, 


1787* 


Florida, 


i5^^5 


St. Augustine, 


Spaniards, 


1845 


Georgia, 


3733 


Savannah, 


English, 


17S8* 


Idaho, 


1S42 


Cceur de Alene, 


Americans, 


1890 


Illinois, 


1682 (?) 


Kaskaskia, 


French, 


1818 


Indiana, 


I7i9(?) 


Vincennes, 


French, 


i8i6 


Iowa, 


1S33 


Burlington, 


English, 


1846 


Kansas, 


1S54 


Leavenworth, 


Americans, 


1861 


Kentucky, 


1775 


Boonesboro, 


English, 


1792 


Louisiana, 


17. s 


New Orleans, 


French, 


1S12 


Maine, 


1625 


Bristol, 


French, 


1820 


Maryland, 


1634 


St. Marys, 


English, 


17S8* 


Massachusetts, 


1620 


Plymoutli, 


English, 


17S8* 


Michigan, 


1701 


Detroit, 


French, 


1837 


Minnesota, 


1846 (?) 


St. Paul, 


Americans, 


1S58 


Mississiiipi, 


.699 


Biloxi, 


French, 


,817 


Missouri, 


1755 


St. Genevieve, 


French, 


1821 


Montana, 


1809 


Yellowstone River, 


Americans, 


1889 


Nebraska, 


1847 


Bellevue, 


Americans, 


1867 


Nevada, 


1S50 


Genoa, 


Americans, 


1864 


New Hampshire, 


1623 


Portsmouth, 


English, 


1788* 


New Jersey, 


.664 


Elizabethtown, 


English, 


1787* 


New York, 


.6.4 


New York, 


Dutch, 


1788* 


North Carolina, 


1663 


Albemarle Sound, 


English, 


1789* 


North Dakota, 


1812 


Pembino, 


English, 


1889 


Ohio, 


1788 


Marietta, 


Americans, 


1803 


Oregon, 


iSii 


Astoria, 


Americans, 


1S59 


Pennsylvania, 


I6S2 (>) 


Pliiladelphia, 


English, 


1787* 


Rhode Island, 


1636 


Providence, 


English, 


1790* 


South Carolina, 


1670 


Ashley River, 


English, 


178S* 


South Dakota, 


'S59 


S. E. part, 


Americans, 


18S9 


Tennessee, 


'757 


Fort Loudoun, 


English, 


1796 


Texas, 


16S5 


Matagorda Bay, 


Spaniards, 


1845 


Utah, 


.847 


Salt Lake City, 


Americans, 


1896 


Vermont, 


1724 


Fort Dumnier, 


English, 


1791 


Virginia, 


1607 


Jamestown, 


English, 


1788* 


Washington, 


1811 


Columbia River, 


English and Americans, 


1889 


West Virginia, 


1764 


Upshur Co., 


Americans, 


1863 


Wisconsin, 


1745 


Green Bay, 


French, 


1848 


Wyoming, 


1S67 ; 


Cheyenne, 


Americans, 


1890 



* Admitted on ratifying the Constitution of tha United States. 



INDEX. 



Abercrombie, Gen., lieutenant to Loudoun, 

91 ; his indecision, 92 ; bis defeat at Ticon- 

deroga, 93 ; his recall, 94. 
Adams, John, on political committees, 119, 

175; Vice President, 180; election of, 186; 

administration of, 1S7-190; death of, 227; 

oratory of, 361. 
Adams, John Quinc)', conmiission to iMig- 

land, 210; election of, 224; administration 

of, 225-227. 
Agassiz, Prof., view of the age of America, 9. 
Aix-la-Chapelle, treaty of, 85. 
Alabama, discovery of, 23 ; admission of, 220; 

secession of, 262. 
Alabajiia, blockade-runner, 350. 
Alaska, purchase of, 348; territory of, 359. 
Albany, trading post established near, 4); 

name changed from Fort Orange, 75 ; 

meeting of colonial delegates at, 89. 
Alden, Col., 143. 
Algiers, war with, 192. 
Alien Laws, 187, 18S. 
Allen, Ethan, iii. 
Ambrister, Robert C, aids tlie Indians, 222 ; 

execution of, 223. 
American, or Know-nothing, Party, 25'j. 
Amerigo Vespucci, 19. 
Amherst, Gen., captures Louisburg, Ticon- 

deroga, and Crown Point, 93,94; punishes 

the Cherokees, 96; captures Montreal, 96. 
Amidas, Philip, 36. 
Ampudia, Gen., 241, 243. 
Anderson, Major, at Fort Moultrie, 263 ; sur- 
renders Fort Sumter, 266; in Kentucky, 278. 
Anderson, Gen. Ricliard Henry, 324. 
Andre, Major, 155. 
Andros, Gov., 75, 82. 

AnnapoUs (name given to Port Royal), 84. 
Antietam, battle of, 293. 
Appomattox Court House, surrender of ( len. 

Lee at, 342. 
Arbuthnot, Alexander, aids the Indians, 222 ; 

execution of, 223. 
Arizona Territory, 359. 
Arkansas, admission of, 232 ; secession of, 

270. 
Arkansas Post, capture of, 314. 
Armstrong, Gen., 211. 

o"9 



Arncld, Benedict, at Ticonderoga, 112*, in. 

vades Canada, 113 ; at Bemis Heights, 134, 

135; treason of, 154, 155; fights against 

his country, 167, 170. 
AriJun-, Chester A., elected Vice President, 

353; administration of, 354, 355. 
Articles of Confederation, 177. 
Ashburton Treaty, 238. 
Ashe, Gen., 148. 
Atlanta, evacuation of, 33 
Atlantic Cable, 348. 
Bacon's Rebellion, 70. 
Bainbridge, Gen., 193, 203. 
Baker, Col., 280. 
Balboa, Vasco Nunez de, 20. 
Balls Bluff, battle of, 2S0. 
Baltimore, attack on, 214. 
Bancroft, George, historian, 365. 
Banks, Gen. N. P., in the Shenandoah Val- 
ley, 286; at Cedar Mountain, 290; defeat 

at Sabine Cross Roads, 321. 
Barlow, 36. 
Barrett, Col., 106. 
Baum, Col., 133. 
Beauregard, Gen. P. G. T., at Charleston, 

266; at Bull Run, 275; at Shiloh, 300; at 

Bermuda Hundred, 326. 
Beausejour, Fort, capture of, 90. 
Belmont, battle of, 281. 
Bemis Heights, battle of, 134. 
Bennington, battle of, 133. 
Berkeley, Sir William, appointed governor 

of Va., 59; succeeds Wyatt, 69; recalled 

by the king, 70. 
Berlin Decree, 195. 
Beverly, battle of, 273. 
Big Bethel, battle of, 274. 
Biorn, Norse voyager, 11. 
Bladensburg, battle of, 214. 
Blaine, James G., 355. 
Blair, Frank P., 272, 348. 
Body of Liberties, 72. 
Bojt Homme Richard, 146. 
Boone, Daniel, 184. 
Booth, John Wilkes, 342. 
Boston, founding of, 55; siege of, 116; 

"Tea Party," 103; Port Bill, 103. 
Boxer, 20S. 



390 



JXDEX 



Braddock, Gen., at Fort Duquesne, 90. 
Bradford, William, 54. 

Bradstreet, Col., captures Fort Frontenac, 94. 
Bragg, Gen., invades Kentucky, 303, 304; at 

Stone River, 306; in Tennessee, 31S, 319. 
Brandywine, battle of, 129. 
Brant, Col., 132, 143. 
Breckinridge, Gen. John C, Vice President, 

256; at New Market, 326. 
Breeds Hill, battle of, loS. 
Breymann, Col., 133. 
Briar Creek, battle of, 148. 
Brock, Gen., 200, 201. 
Brown, Charles Brockden, 363. 
Brown, Col., 135. 
Brown, Gen., 211, 212. 
Brown, John, 258, 259. 
Bryant, William Cullen, 365. 
Buchanan, James, election of, 256; admin- 
istration of, 257-263. 
Buckner, Gen., 279. 
Buell, Gen., at Shiloh, 299, 300; at Perry- 

ville, 304. 
Buena Vista, battle of, 344. 
Bull Run, battle of, 275. 
Bunker Hill, battle of, loS. 
Burgoyne, Gen., at Bunker Hill, io?>-, at 

Bemis Heights, 130-136. 
Burke, Edmund, 99. 
Burney, Gen., at Chancellorsville, 309. 
Burnside, Gen., captures Roanoke Island, 

282 ; at Fredericksburg, 295 ; at Knox- 

ville, 319; commands reserve, 323. 
Burr, Aaron, Vice President, 190; treason 

of, 194; duel with Hamilton, 194. 
Butler, Gen. Benjamin F., at New Orleans, 

301-303; at Bermuda Hundred, 326; at 

Fort Fisher, 339. 
Butler, John, 143. 
Butler, Walter, 143. 
Cable, Atlantic, 34S. 
Cabots, John and Sebastian, iS, 19. 
Calhoun, John C, 227, 230. 
California, conquest of, 243 ; discovery of 

gold in, 250; admission of, 252. 
Calvert, Cecil, 58. 
Calvert, George, 58. 
Camden, battle of, 153. 
Cameron, Simon, 284. 
Campbell, Col., at Savannah, 1:3, 144; at 

Eutaw Springs, 166. 
Canada, invasion of by Wolfe, 95, 96. 
Canby, Gan., 351. 
Carolinas, settlement of, 60. 
Cartier, Jacques, 22, 26, 27. 
Carver, Gov., 51, 54. 



Cedar Creek, battle of, 534. 

Cedar Mountain, battle of, 290. 

Centennial celebrations, 351, 357. 

Cerro Gordo, battle of, 245. 

Chads Ford, battle of, 129. 

Champif)ns Hi 1, battle of, 316. 

Champlain, Samuel, founds Quebec and 
Montreal, 85. 

Chancellorsville, battle of, 309, 310. 

Chantilly, battle of, 291. 

Chapultepec, battle of, 24S. 

Charles I., 55. 

Charleston, settlement of, 60. 

Charlestown founded, 55. 

Chase, Salmon P., borrows money, 276; 
Secretary of tha Treasun,-, 336, 337. 

Chattanooga, battle of, 319. 

Cheatham, Gen., 338. 

Cherokees, hostility of, 96. 

Cherry Valley, massacre at, 143. 

Chesapeake, capture of, 208. 

Chicago, discovered by La Salle, 86; great 
fire at, 349. 

Chickamauga, battle of, 318. 

China, treaty with, 353. 

Chippewa, battle of, 211. 

Churubusco, battle of, 247. 

Civil Service Act, 354. 

Civil War, 272-344; events of 1S61, 272- 
2S3 ; events of 1862, 284-306; events of 
1S63, 307-320; events of 1S64, 321-337; 
events of 1865, 337-344- 

Claiborne, Gen., 209. 

Clay, Gen., at Fort Meigs, 204. 

Clay, Henr}', peace commissioner, 210; de- 
feated for President, 224 ; Secretary' of 
State, 225;- his compromise on the tariff, 
231 ; compromise of 1850, 251, 252. 

Cleveland, Grover, election of, 355, 357; 
first administration of, 355, 356; second 
administration of, 358. 

Clinton, De Witt, 205. 

Clinton, George, 194, 205. 

Clinton, Sir Henry, at Bunker Hill, 108, 
109; at Charleston, 117, iiS, 152; at 
Monmouth, 141, 142. 

Cockburn, Admiral, 209, 214. 

Cold Harbor, battle of, 325. 

Coffee, Gen., 209. 

Colfax, Schuyler, 34S. 

Coligny, Admiral, 29. 

Colonial Congress, First, 100; Second, 103. 

Colorado, admission of, 351. 

Columbian Exposition at Chicago, 358. 

Columbus, Christopher, 13-17. 

Compromisj, Missouri, 220-222, 



INDEX. 



391 



Concord, battle of, 105, 106. 
Confederation, Articles of, 177. 
Connecticut, settlement of, 56; effort at 

union, 89. 
Connor, Commodore, 242, 245. 
Continental Congress, First, 103 ; Second, no. 
Constitution of United States, 179, Zll-Z^l- 
Constitution, war shiii, 202. 
Contreras, battle of, 247. 
Conway Cabal, 137. 
Cooper, James Fenimore, 364. 
Corinth, siege of, 306. 

Cornwallis, in New Jersey, 125-127; in the 
South, 152, 153, 156, 159, 160-163, 166; at 
Yorktown, 170-172. 
Cortereal, Caspar, 19 
Cortes, 21. 
Cotton gin, 1S2. 
Cowpens, battle of, 159. 
Creek War, 209. 
Crogan, Major, 204 
Cromwell, Oliver, 6g, 73. 
Crown Point, Fort, encroachments on, 87; 
expedition agamst, 89 ; capture of by the 
English, 94. 
Culpeper, Lord, 70. 
Cumberland, Fort (Beausejour), 90. 
Currency depreciated, 150. 
Dale, Sir Thomas, 45- 

Davenport, John, founds New Haven, 57. 
Davis, Jefferson, chosen President, 263 ; at 

Glendale, 288; captured, 344- 
Davis, Sir John, 34. 
Dayton, William L., 256. 
Dean, Silas, 138. 
Dearborn, Gen., 200, 205. 
De Balboa, Vasco Nunez, 20. 
Debt, state and national, 337. 
Decatur, Commodore Stephen, 193, 218. 
Declaration of Independence, 119. 
D'Estaing, Count, on his way to America, 
140; at Rhode Island, 141; at Newport, 
142; sails to the West Indies, 143; at 
Savannah, 151. 
De Gourgucs, 31. 

DeGrasse,Count, at Yorktown, 169, 170, 172- 
De Kalb, Baron, his loyalty, 138; warns 

Gates, 152; killed at Camden, 153. 
Delawarr, Lord, 45. 
Delaware, settlement of, 59- 
Democrats, 179, 239. 
Dennison, Col., 143. 
De Soto, Hernando, 22, 23. 
Detroit, captured by the English, 96. 
De Villiers, 89. 
De Viomeiil, 171. 



Dickinson, Gen., at Monmouth, 140. 
Dieskau, Baron, 90. 
Dinwiddle, Gov., 88. 
Divine River (Chicago River), 86. 
Donelson, Fort, captured, 298. 
Dongan, Gov., 75. 
Dorchester, town of, 55. 
Dorr's Rebellion, 237. 
Doubleday, Gen., 293, 311. 
Douglas, Stephen A., introduces Kansas- 
Nebraska Bill, 255 ; candidate for Presi- 
dent, 259, 260. 
Downie, Captain, 213. 
Draft riots. New York, 319. 
Drake, Joseph Rodman, 364. 
Dred Scott case, 257. 
Drummond, Gen., at Fort Niagara, 207; at 

Lundys Lane, 211 ; at Fort Erie, 212. 
Dupont, Admiral, 280, 321. 
Duquesne, fort at, 87; expeditions against, 

89-91, 93 ; occupied by the English, 94. 
Dutch West India Company, 50. 
D wight, Timothy, 361. 
Early, Gen., 334- 
Eaton, Theophilus, 57. 
Edward I., 90. 

Edward, Fort, captured by Dieskau, 90; 
abandoned by Schuyler, 133; threatened 
by Stark, 135. 
Edwards, Jonathan, 361. 
Electoral Commission, 351. 
Elizabeth, Queen, 33, 35, 36, 38, 39, 42, S'- 
Emancipation Proclamation, 308. 
Embargo Act, 196. 
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 366. 
Enciso, 20. 
Endicott, Deputy Gov., 55; attacks Indians, 

63, 64. 
Enterprise, 208. 
Eric the Red, 10, 11. 
Ericsson, John, 283. 
Eutaw Springs, battle of, 166. 
Ewell, Gen., corps-commander, 310; in- 
vades Pa., 311; at Gettysburg, 3-2 ; at 
Spottsylvania, 324; captured, 342. 
Fair Oaks, battle of, 2S5. 
Farragut, Admiral, at New Orleans, 301- 

303; at Mobile, 333, 334- 
Ferdinand, King, 14, 15, 16. 
Ferdinando, 38. 

Ferguson, Col., at Kings Mountain, 156. 
Field, Cyrus W., 348. 
Fillmore, Millard, succession to presidency, 

252; administration of, 252, 253. 
Fisher, Fort, attack on, 339. 
Fishers Hill, attacked, 334- 



392 



lADEX. 



Fiske, John, 366. 

Five Forks, battle of, 341. 

Five Nations (Indians), S3. 

Flag, American, 145. 

Flag, Confederate, 266. 

Flamborough Head, naval battle off, 147. 

Flokko, Norse voyager, 10. 

Florida, discovery of, 21 ; search for gold in, 
22; French explorations of, 28-30; St. 
Augustine founded, 30 ; Spanish claim to, 
35 ; purchase of by United States, 233 ; ad- 
mission of, 239; secession of, 262. 

Floyd, 297, 298. 

Foote, Admiral, 297, 298. 

Forbes, Gen., seizes Fort Duquesne, 94. 

" Force Bill,"' 349. 

Forrest, Gen., 303. 

Fort Crown Point, Donelson, etc. See 
names of forts. 

Fort Fisher, attacked, 339. 

France, troubles with, 1S4, 187. 

Franklin, battle of, 333. 

Franklin, Benjamin, on , committee, 119; 
seeks aid in France, 138; secures French 
alliance, 139; appointed peace commis- 
sioner, 175; his literary character, 362. 

Fraser, Gen., 132, 134. 

Fredericksburg, battle of, 295. 

Freedman's Bureau, 346. 

Fremont, Gen. John C, in California, 243 ; 
nominated for President, 256; commands 
in the West, 277, 278; campaign i:i th- 
Shenandoah, 286, 2S7. 

French Alliance, 139. 

French and Indian War, 87-96; events of 
1755) 89-91 ; events of 1756, 91, 92 ; events 
of 1757, 92, 93; events of 1758, 93, 94; 
events of 1759, 94-96. 

Frobisher, Martin, 34. 

Frolic, capture of, 202. 

Frontenac, Gov., 82. 

Frontenac, Fort, capture of, 94. 

Fugitive Slave Law, 252. 

Gage, Gen., at Boston, 102 ; military gov- 
ernor of INIass., 104; seizes stores at Con- 
cord, 105 ; burns Charlestown, 109. 

Gaines, Gen., 222, 232. 

Gaines Mill, battle of, 287. 

G,illatin, Albert, peace commissioner, 210. 

Gansevoort, Col., at Oriskany, 132. 

Garfield, James A., election of, 353 ; assas- 
sination of, 353. 

Garnet, Gen., 273. 

Gates, Gen. Horatio, made major-general, 
no; commands against Burgoyne, 135, 
137; defeated at Camden, 152, 153. 



Gates, Sir Thomas, 42, 45. 

Genet, French envoy, 184. 

Georgia, settlement of, 62; troubles with, 
226 ; secession of, 262. 

Germantown, battle of, 130. 

Gerry, Elbridge, commissioner to France, 
189; Vice President, 205. 

Gettysburg, battle of, 311, 312, 313. 

Ghent, treaty of, 217. 

Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, 33-36. 

Gillmore, Gen., 322, 326. 

Glendale, battle of, 2S8. 

Gold, discovery of in California, 250. 

Goldsborough, Admiral, 283, 339. 

Gordon, Gen., 323, 340. 

Gorges, Ferdinando, 57. 

Gosnold, Bartholomew, 39, 43, 44. 

Granger, Gen., 332, 333. 

Grant, Col., defeats the Cherokees, 96. 

Grant, Gen. U. S., his military ability, 2S1 ; 
in command at Cairo, 296 ; capture of 
Fort Henry, 297; capture of Fort Donel- 
son, 298; at Shiloh, 299; humiliated by 
Halleck, 301 ; at Holly Springs, 305 ; his 
siege of Vicksburg, 3 14 ; victories in 
Miss., and surrender of Vicksburg, 315- 
317; at Chattanooga, 319; made lieuten- 
ant-general, 322 ; battles of the Wilder- 
ness, Spottsylvania, and Cold Harbor, 
323-325 ; captures Richmond and Lee's 
army, and ends the war, 340-342 ; election 
of, 348; administration of, 349-351. 

Graves, Admiral, 170. 

Great Meadows, Washington at, 89. 

Greeley, Horace, nominated for President, 

350- 

Green Mountain Boys, 133. 

Greene, Gen. Nathaniel, appointed major- 
general, 107; at Trenton, 126; at Rhode 
Island, 142; his military ability, 157; re- 
organizes the Southern army, 158; his fa- 
mous retreat, 160, 162 ; at Guilford Court 
House, 163 ; invades South Carolina, 164; 
at Hobkirks Hill, 165; at Eutaw Springs, 
166. 

Greenland, 16. 

Grenville, Sir Richard, 37, 38. 

Griffin, Gen., 341. 

Guadalupe Hidalgo, treaty of, 24S. 

Guerriere, war ship, 202. 

Guilford Court House, battle of, 163. 

Hakluyt, Richard, 42. 

Halleck, Fitz-Greene, 364. 

Halleck, Gen., commands in the West, 279; 
made commander in chief, 289; siege of 
Corinth, 301. 



JXDEX. 



393 



Hamilton, Alexander, at Yorktown, 171; 
calls for convention, 17S; made Secretary 
of the Treasury, 180; his financial meas- 
ures, 181 ; leader of the Federal Party, 
185 ; duel with Burr, 194 ; writer on the 
Federalist, 362. 

Hamlin, Hannibal, 260. 

Hampton, Gen., 338. 

Hancock, Gen., at Gettysburg, 312, 313; 
commands the Second corps, 322 ; at the 
battle of the Wilderness, 323. 

Hancock, John, 105. 

Harpers Ferry, capture of, 293. 

Harrison, Benjamin, election of, 356; ad- 
ministration of, 357. 

Harrison, W. H., at Tippecanoe, 199; com- 
mands in the northwest, 201 ; at the battle 
of Raisin, 203, 204; at the battle of the 
Thames, 207; elected President, 236; 
death of, 236. 

Hartford, 56, 59; convention at, 216. 

Harvard College, 77. 

Harvey, Sir John, 69. 

Hawkins, Sir John, 30. 

Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 366. 

Hayes, election of, 351; administration of, 

352,353- 
Heath, Gen., 120, 169. 
Heights of Abraham, battle of, 95, 96. 
Hendricks, Thomas A., 351. 
Henry, Fort, captured by Grant, 297. 
Henry, Patrick, 361. 
Henry VII., 18, 19, 32. 
Herjulf, Norse voyager, 11. 
Herkimer, Gen., 132. 
Hessians, 126. 

Hobkirks Hill, battle cf, 165. 
Hochelaga, Cartier's discovery of, 26. 
Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 368. 
Hooker, Thomas, 361. 
Hopkins, Samuel, 361. 
Hornet and Peacock, 2oT. 
Howard, Col., 159, 161. 
Howard, Gen., at Chancellorsville, 30;; at 

Gettysburg, 312. 
Howe, Admiral Lord, 94, 121, 122. 
Howe, Sir "William, at Bunker Hi.l, loS; 

supersedes Gage, in; evacuates Boston, 

116; at Long Island, 122; his cruelty, 129; 

at Chads Ford, 129; at Germantown and 

Philadelphia, 129, 130. 
Hudson, Henry, 48, 49. 
Hudson River, 49, 50. 
Huger, Gen., 274. 
Hull, Captain, 202 
Hull, Gen., 200. 



Hutchinson, Ann, 57. 

Hutchinson, Captain, 66. 

Iceland, 10, 13. 

Idaho, admission of, 357. 

Illinois, admission of, 220. 

Indian Wars, 183. 

Indiana, 182; admission of, 220. 

Indian Territory, 359. 

Indians, North American, 40, 41. 

Ingolf, Norse voyager, 10. 

Iowa, admission of, 249. 

Iroquois, 85. 

Irving, Washington, 363. 

Isabella of Castile, 15, 17. 

Island No. 10, surrender of, 298. 

luka, battle of, 305. 

Izard, Gen., 212. 

Jackson, Andrew, in the Creek War, 209 ; 
victory at New Orleans, 215 ; in the Semi- 
nole War, 222; elected President, 227; 
administration of, 228-232, 

Jackson, Gov., 271,276, 277. 

Jackson, Thomas J. (" Stonewall"), in the 
Shenandoah, 286 ; at Cross Keys, 287 ; at 
the Seven Days' battles, 288; defeats 
Banks, 290; captures Harpers Ferry, 293; 
at Chancellorsville, 309, 310. 

James L, 42, 51. 

Jamestown, settlement of, 44, 45. 

Java, capture of, 203. 

Jay, John, Commissioner at Treaty of Paris, 
175; first Chief Justice U. S., 182 ; envoy 
to England, 185 ; writer on Federalist, 362. 

Jefferson, Thomas, writes the Declaration of 
Independence, 119, 361 ; made Secretary 
of State, iSi ; carries bill devoting North- 
west Territory to freedom, 182 ; leads 
the Republican party, 185 ; elected Vice 
President, 1S6 ; elected President, 190; 
administration of, 191-196; death of, 227. 

Johnson, Andrew, administration of, 345- 
348 ; impeachment of, 346. 

Johnston, Gen. Albert Sidney, at Shiloh, 
300. 

Johnston, Gen. Joseph E., at Seven Pines 
and Fair Oaks, 2S5; commands in Miss., 
316; commands against Sherman, 327- 
329; commands in N. C, 33S; surren- 
ders, 343. 

Joliet, reaches the Mississippi, 86. 

Jones, Paul, captures the Serapis, 147. 

Kansas-Nebraska Bill, 253. 

Kansas, admission of, 263. 

Kearney, Gen., invades New INIexico, 242: 
captures Santa Fe, 243 ; at Chantilly, 291. 

Kenesaw Mountain, battle of, 329. 



394 



IXDKX. 



Kentucky, admission of, 1S4, 220. 

Kieft, Sir William, 74. 

Kilpatrick, Gen., 330. 

King George's War, 84, 85. 

King Philip's War, 64-67. 

King William's War, 81-83. 

Kings INIountain, battle of, 156. 

Know-nothing Party, 256. 

Knox, Gen., 107, 181. 

Knyphausen, Gen., 141, 151. 

Kosciusko, Gen., 134, 13S. 

Labor troubles, 356. 

Lafayette, IMarquis de, approached by the 
Cabal, 13"; at Rhode Island, 142; sent 
against Arnold, 167-169. 

Lake Champlain, 84, 96. 

Lake George, 90, 92, 94. 

Lane, Ralph, 37, 3S. 

La Salle discovers the Di\ine River (Chicago 
River), 86. 

Laudonniere, Captain, 29, 30. 

Laurens, Henry, 135, 137. 

La Vega, Gen., 241. 

Lee, Gen. Charles, made major-general, no; 
at Charleston, 117; at New York, 120; a 
member of Conway Cabal, 137; at Mon- 
mouth, 140, 141. 

Lee, Col. Henry (" Light Horse Harry "), 
a partisan chief, 152 ; with Greene's re- 
treat, 161, 162 ; invades S. C, 164, 165. 

Lee, Richard Henry, 118, 119, 125. 

Lee, Robert E., in West Va., 273 ; commands 
army of N. Va., 286 ; in Seven Days' Bat- 
tles, 287-2S9 ; defeats Pope, 291 ; invades 
Maryland, 292 ; at Antietam, 293 ; defeats 
Bumside at Fredericksburg, 295 ; defeats 
Hooker at Chancellorsville, 309; defeated 
by Meade at Gettysburg, 312, 313 ; at bat- 
tle of the Wilderness, 323 ; at battle of 
Spottsylvania, 324 ; at battle of Cold Har- 
bor, 325 ; his surrender to Grant, 342. 

Leif, the Lucky, 11, 13. 

Leslie, Gen., 160. 

Lexington, battle of, 106. 

Lincoln, Abraham, elected President, 260; 
administration of, 264-343 ; his character, 
264 ; anxious for peace, 265 ; call for sol- 
diers, 26S; he declares a blockade, 270; he 
restores McClellan to command, 292 ; is- 
sues proclamation of emancipation, 30S ; 
is reelected, 335; assassination of, 343. 

Lincoln, Gen., supersedes Howe, 148; at 
Savannah and Charleston, i^^i ; receives 
Comwallis's sword, 172. 

Little Belt, 198. 

London Company, 42. 



Longfellow, Henrj' Wadsworth, 367. 

Long Island, battle of, 122. 

Longstreet, Gen., at Glendale, 288; at 
Gettysburg, 312, 313 ; at Chickamauga, 
318; at Knoxville, 319; at the battle of 
the Wilderness, 323. 

Lookout Mountain, battle of, 319. 

Lundys Lane, battle of, 211. 

Loudoun, Lord, 91, 92. 

Loudoun, Fort, siege of, 96. 

Louisburg, expedition against, 92 ; surrender 
of, 93- 

Louisiana, French claim to, 86 ; United 
States purchase of, 192 ; admission of, 
220 ; secession of, 262. 

Lowell, James Russell, 368, 369. 

Lyon, Gen., at St. Louis, 272, 273 ; at Boone- 
ville, 276; at Springfield, 277. 

McClellan, Gen. George B., made major- 
general, 270; in West Va., 273; comman- 
der in chief, 276 ; camjjaign against Rich- 
mond, 2S5, 2S6; Seven Days' Battles, 288, 
289; battles of South Mountain and Antie- 
tam, 293 ; superseded by Burnside, 294. 

McClernand, Gen., 29S, 316. 

]\IcCulloch, Gen., 277. 

McDowell, Gen., at Bull Run, 175; cover- 
ing Washington, 2S6; tries to intercept 
Jackson, 287; at second battle of Bull 
Run, 291. 

McMaster, J. B., 366. 

McPherson, Gen., at Vicksburg, 316; com- 
mands Army of the Tennessee, 327 ; at 
Dallas, 32S ; killed before Atlanta, 330. 

MacDonough, Thomas, 213. 

lilacedoniaH, 203. 

Macomb, Alexander, 212, 213. 

Madison, James, attends the convention of 
1787, 178; elected President, 196; admin- 
istration of, 197-2 iS; writer i.i the Feder- 
alist, 362. 

Magruder, Gen., 274, 2S5, 2SS. 

Maine, settlements i.i, 57 ; admission of, 220. 

Malvern Hill, battle of, 289. 

Manassas, battle of, 275. See Bull Run. 

Manhattan Island, 49. 

Marion, Col., partisan chief, 152, 164, 165. 

Marquette, Father, 86. 

Martial Law in the South, 347. 

Maryland, settlement of, 58; effort at 
union, 89. 

Mason, Captain John, 57, 64. 

Mason, Confederate agent, 280. 

Massachusetts, settlement of, 53-55 ; effort 
at union, 89. 

Massachusetts Bay Colony, 55. 



JA'DEX. 



395 



Massasoit, 64. 

Mather, Cotton,. 360. 

Maximilian, Emperor, 347. 

May, Captain, 50. 

Alayflcnver, 53, 53. 

Meade, Gen., supersedes Hooker, 311; at 
Gettysburg, 312; commands the Army of 
the Potomac, 317. 

Mechanicsvil'.e, battle of, 287. 

Memphis, battle of, 249. 

Menendez, founds St. Augustine, 30, 31. 

Merriuiac, iron-clad, 282. 

Mexican War, 240-249. 

Michigan, formed from Northwest Territory, 
182 ; admission of, 232. 

Mifflin, Gen., 137. 

Milan Decree, 196. 

Miles, Gen., 293. 

Miller, Col., 200, 211. 

Milroy, Gen., 310. 

Mine explosion, 337. 

Minnesota, admission of, 263. 

Minuit, Peter, 50, 74. 

Missionary Ridge, battle of, 319. 

Mississippi, 23, 41 ; admission of, 220; seces- 
sion of, 262. 

Mississippi Valley claimed by the French, 
86, 87. 

Missouri, admission of, 222. 

Missouri Compromise, 222. 

Mobile, capture of, 334. 

Modoc War, 351. 

Molino del.Rey, battle of, 247. 

Monckton, Gen., 90. 

Monitor, beats JMerrimac, 2S3. 

Monmouth, battle of, 141. 

Monroe, Col., 92. 

Monroe, James, minister to England, 195; 
elected President, 2 iS; administration cf, 
219-224; states the "Monroe Doctrine," 
224. 

Monroe Doctrine, 224, 347. 

Montana, admission of, 357. 

Montcalm, Marquis, 91-93, 96. 

Monterey, battle of, 243. 

Montgomery, Gen., 96, 112. 

Montreal founded, 26, 85 ; expeditions 
against, S3, 84; captured by Amherst, 86; 
Wilkinson's failure to capture, 207. 

Morgan, Gen., at Bemis Heights, 134, 135; 
at Cowpens, 159; his retreat, 160. 

Morris, Robert, patriotism of, 169; his rec- 
ommendation of Hamilton, 180. 

Motley, John Lothrop, 366. 

Moultrie, Fort, 117. 

Moultrie, Gen., 117, 118, 148. 



Mound Builders, 41. 

Mulligan, Col., 29S. 

Naddod, discovers Iceland, 10. 

Napoleon I., 189, 192. 

Narvaez, Panphilo de, 21, 22. 

Nashville, battle of, 297. 

National Bank, 181. 

Navigation Act, 70, 98. 

Nebraska, admission of, 348. 

Necessity, Fort, 89. 

Negley, Gen., 305. 

Nelson Farm, battle of, 303. 

Nevada, admission of, 339. 

New Amsterdam, 50. 

New England, settlement of, 51-58, 70-73. 

Newfoundland, 11, 25, 26, 32. 

New France, 25. 

New Hampshire, settlement of, 57, 58 ; ef- 
fort at union, 8g. . 

New Haven, 57. 

New Hope, battle of, 328. 

New Jersey, settlement of, 59. 

New Mexico, 243, 359. 

New Netherland, 50, 59. 

New Orleans, battle of, 215 ; capture of, 303. 

Newport, Christopher, 43. 

New York, settlement of, 4S-50, 73-75 ; ef- 
fort at union, 89. 

Niagara, expedition against, 89, 91 ; capture 
of, 95, 96. 

Nichols, Col., 59, 74, 75. 

Nicholson, acting-governor, 82, 84. 

Norfolk, burning of, 114. 

Non-Intercourse Act, 195. 

North, Lord, 102, 103, 139, 174. 

North Carolina, settlement of, 60 ; secession 
of, 270. 

North Dakota, admission of, 357. 

Northmen, g-12. 

Nova Scotia, French encroachments on, 87; 
expedition against, 89; capture of, go. 

Oglethorpe, Gen. James, 61, 62. 

Ohio, 41, 1S2; admission of, 193, 220. 

Ohio Company, 87. 

Ojeda, iS, 20. 

Oklahoma Territory, 357, 359. 

Oldham, John, murder of, 63. 

Omnibus Bill, 252, 254. 

Ontario, Fort, captured by Montcalm, 91. 

Ontario, Lake, 92. 

Orange, Fort, 49, 75. 

^)rd. Gen., 305. 

Orders in Council, 185, 194-196, 198, 200. 

Oregon, admission of, 263. 

Oriskany, battle of, 133. 

Osceola, Indian chief, 231, 232. 



396 



INDEX. 



Oswego, 90, 132. 

Otis, James, 100, 361. 

Ovando, 20. 

Pakenham, Gen., 215. 

Palo Alto, battle of, 241. 

Panic of 1S37, 233 ; of 1857, 253 ; of 1873, 350. 

Paoli, massacre of, 129. 

Paris, treaty of, 96, 175. 

Parker, Admiral, 117, iiS. 

Parker, John, at Lexington, 106. 

Patterson, Gen., 270, 275. 

Paulding, James K., 363, 364. 

Paulding, John, captures Andre, 155. 

Paulus Hook, 120. 

Peacock, capture of, 20S. 

Pea Ridge, battle of, 282. 

Pearson, Captain, 147. 

Pemberton, Gen., 314, 316, 317. 

Penn, William, 60, 61. 

Pennsylvania, settlement of, 61 ; effort at 
union, 89. 

Pequot War, 63, 64. 

Percy, George, 45. 

Percy, Lord, 105, 107. 

Perr\', Captain, on Lake Erie, 205; com- 
mands the Japan expedition, 253. 

Perryville, battle of, 304. 

Petersburg, capture of, 341. 

Philadelphia, Howe's capture of, 130; evac- 
uation of, 140; seat of government, 1S2. 

Phillips, Gen., 167, 16S. 

Phipps, Sir William, 83, 85. 

Pizarro, 21. 

Pickens, Col., 148, 162, 164. 

Pierce, Franklin, 246, 247, 253. 

Pike, Gen., 205. 

Pilgrims, 52, 53. 

Pillow, Gen., 247, 297, 29S. 

Pitcaini, Major, 106. 

Pitt, Earl of Chatham, 93, 94, go. 

Plattsburg, battle of, 213. 

Plymoutl), settlement of, 53-55. 

Plymouth Company, 42. 

Pocahontas, 44, 46, 47. 

Poe, Edgar Allan, 36S. 

Point Levi, Wolfe at, 95. 

Polk, Bishop and Gen., 281, 306, 318. 

Polk, James K., election of, 239; adminis- 
tration of, 240-249. 

Ponce de Leon, 20-22. 

Pope, Gen., 278, 290-292. 

Port Royal, 28, 29, 83, 84. 

Porter, Admiral, 315, 321, 339. 

Porter, Gen. Fitz John, 2S7, 292. 

Potomac, army of, organized, 276. 

Powhatan, Indian Chief, 44, 46. 



Preble, Commodore, 192. 

Prescott, Col., at Bunker Hill, 108. 

Prescott, W. H., 365. 

Prevost, Gen., attempt on Charleston, 148; 
defends Savannah, 151 ; attacks Sacketts 
Harbor, 205 ; defeated at Plattsburg, 
212, 213. 

Price, Gen., seizes U. S. arsenal, 271 ; in 
Missouri, 276, 277; at Corintli, 305, 306. 

Prideaux, Gen., 95. 

Princeton, battle of, 127. 

Pring, Martin, 39. 

Proctor, Gea., 204, 205. 

Providence, founding of, 56. 

Pulaski, Count, 151. 

Puritans, 51, 52, 55, 56. 

Putnam, Gen., at Bunker Hill, 109; at Long 
Island, 122. 

Quebec, founding of, 85, 94; expedition 
against, 83 ; captured by the Englisli, 95, 96. 

Qneen Anne's War, 83, 84. 

Queenstown Heights, battle of, 201. 

Rahl, Gen., 125. 

Railroad riots, 352. 

Raisin, battle of, 204. 

Raleigh, Sir Walter, 33, 36-39. 

Randolph, Edmund, 1S2. 

Ratcliffe, Gov., 43, 44, 45. 

Rawdon, Lord, at Camden, 153 , pursues 
Greene, 161 ; at Hobkirks Hill, 165 ; re- 
tires from the command, 166. 

Reed, Pres., 154. 

Republican Party, 256. 

Resaca de la Palma, battle of, 241. 

Revere, Paul, 105. 

Revolutionary War, 97-179; causes of, 97- 
104; events of 1775, 105-114; events of 
1776, 115-127; events of 1777, 12S-X36; 
events of 1778, 137-147 ; events of 1779, 
147-151 ; events of 17S0, 151-156; events 
of 1781, 157-172 ; end of war, 173-179. 

Reynolds, Gen., 311. 

Rhode Island, Leif's landing at, 11; settle- 
ment of, 56; effort at union, 89. 

Rich Mountain, battle of, 273. 

Riall, Gen., 211. 

Ribault, Jean, 28, 30. 

Richmond, fall of, 341. 

Riley, Gen., 247, 251. 

Ripley, Gen., 211, 212. 

Roberval, Lord, 27. 

Robinson, Charles, elected Gov. of Kansas, 

255- 
Robinson, Rev. John, 51. 
Rochambeau, Count, 169. 
Rolfe, John, 47. 



INDEX. 



397 



Rosecrans, Gen., attacks Pegram, 273 ; at 
Corinth, 304 ; at luka, 305 ; saves Ten- 
nessee, 306; at Stone River, 306; at 
Chickamauga, 318. 

Ross, Gen., 214. 

Rosser, Gen., 334. 

Roxbury, colony at, 55. 

Russell, Jonathan, 210. 

Rutledge, Gov., 14S. 

Ryswick, treaty of, 83. 

Sabine Cross Roads, battle of, 321, 

St. Augustine, colony at, 31. 

St. Clair, Gen., 131, 132, 183. 

St. Johns River, Laudonniere at, 29. 

St. Leger, Col., 132. 

St. Lawrence, discovery of, 25, 26; a point 
of interest, 28, 35, 85. 

Salem, settlement at, 55 ; port of entry 103. 

San Salvador, discovered by Columbus, 16. 

Santa Anna, Gen., 242, 244-248. 

Saratoga, 136. See Beml? Heights. 

Sassacus, Indian chief, 64. 

Sault Ste. Marie, 86. 

Sausaman, murder of, 65. 

Savage Station, battle of, 2S8. 

Savannah, Ga., founding of, 62. 

Schofield, Gen., 327, 332, 339. 

Schuyler, Gen., 107, 120. 

Scott, Gen., at Chippewa, 211; sent to 
Charleston, 230; sent to the frontier, 234; 
invades Mexico, 244-248 ; defeated for 
President, 253 ; his advice disregarded, 
274; retires from the army, 276. 

Search of American vessels, 98, 109. 

Seceding States, 262. 

Secession threatened, 230. 

Sedgwick, Gen., at Chancellarsville, 309, 
310; at Gettysburg, 312; commander of 
the Sixth corps, 322 ; at the battle of the 
Wilderness, 323, 324 ; killed at Spottsyl- 
vania, 324. 

Sedition Law, 188. 

Seminole War, 222, 231. 

Seymour, Gen., 321. 

Seymour, Horatio, 348. 

Shannon captures Chesapeake, 208. 

Shays's Rebellion, 178. 

Sheridan, Gen. Philip H., at Stone River, 
306; at Cold Harbor, 325; fights his way 
around Richmond, 326 ; victorious in the 
Shenandoah, 334; his celebrated ride, 
335 ; his genius in battle, 341. 

Sherman Act, 358. 

Sherman, Roger, 119. 

Sherman, William Tecumseh, at Shiloh, 300 ; 
at Arkansas Post, 314; at Vicksburg, 316, 



319; from Cliattanooga to Atlanta, 327- 

330 ; his march through Georgia, 331, 332 ; 

his march through the Carolinas, 338-340; 

captures Johnston's army, 343. 
Shields, Gen., 245, 247, 286, 287. 
Shiloh, battle of, 299. See Pittsburg Land- 
ing. 
Shirley, Gov., 91, 98. 
Sickles, Gen., 310, 312. 
Sigel, Gen., in Missouri, 276; at Wilsons 

Creek, 277 ; at Pea Ridge, 282 ; defeated 

at New Market, 326. 
Sioux War, 351. 
Slave Trade, 182. 
Slavery introduced, 46; prohibited in New 

England, 72 ; profitable in the South, 220 ; 

agitation of slavery question, 221, 251-263 ; 

abolished by emancipation proclamation, 

308. 
Slidel, Confederate agent, 280. 
Sloat, Commodore, 243. 
Slocum, Gen., at Antietam, 294; at Chan- 

cellorsville, 309; at Gettysburg, 312; with 

Sherman in Georgia, 331 ; commands right 

wing at Augusta, 338; defeats Johnston 

near Goldsborough, 339. 
Smith, Captain John, 43, 44, 46. 
Smith, Col., 105-107. 
Smith, Gen. Gustavus W., 286. 
Smith, Joseph, founds Mormonism, 235. 
Smith, Gen. Kirby, 321, 343. 
Smith, Gen. W. F., 325. 
Smuggling, 98. 
Somers, Sir George, 42. 
Sons of Liberty, loi. 
South Carolina, settlement of, 60; secession 

of, 262. 
South Dakota, admission of, 357. 
South Mountain, battle of, 293. 
Specie payments, 352. 
Spencer, Gen., at siege of Boston, 107 ; at 

New York, 120. 
Spoils of office, 229. 
Spottsylvania, battle of, 324. 
Stamp Act, 99-101. 
Standish, Miles, Captain, 54. 
Stanton, Edwin M., Sec. of War, 284, 301. 
Stark, Gen., 133. 
State Rights, 230. 
Steuben, Baron, 13S, 167, 169. 
Stevens, Col., 153, 163. 
Stevens, Gen., 291. 
Stillwater, 134. See Bemis Heights. 
Stirling, Alexander, Lord, 120, 122. 
Stone River, battle of, 306. 
Stoneman, 309. 



39S 



INDEX. 



Stony Point, capture of, 144. 

Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 369. 

Stuart, Col., 166. 

Stuart, Gen., 326. 

Sullivan, Gen., at New York, 120; taken 
prisoner at Long Island, 122; at Trenton, 
126; at Rhode Island, 142; his expedi- 
tion against the Indians, 14S, 149. 

Sumter, Col., 152, 164, 165. 

Sumter, Fort, reenforced, 263 ; fall of, 266. 

Stuyvesant, Peter, 59, 74- 

Sykes, Gen., 312. 

Tariff, 227, 356. 

Tarleton, Col., 156, 159, 160. 

Taylor, Gen. Dick, 343. 

Taylor, Zachary, at the Rio Grande, 240-242 ; 
at Buena Vista, 244; elected President, 
249; administration of, 250-252. 

Tecumseh, Indian chief, 199, 204, 209. 

Tennessee, admission of, 1S4, 220; seces- 
sion of, 270. 

Tenure of Ofi&ce Bill, 346. 

Terry, Gen., 339. 

Texan Revolution, 23S. 

Texas, annexation of, 239 ; admission of, 249 ; 
secession of, 262. 

Thames, battle of, 207. 

Thirteenth Amendment, 337. 

Thomas, Gen. George H., at Chickamauga, 
318; commands Army of the Cumberland, 
327; sent in pursuit of Hood, 331; his 
victory at Nashville, 333. 

Thorvald, Norse voyager, 12. 

Ticonderoga, English campaigns against, 
92-94 ; capture of, 94 ; Allen and Arnold's 
capture of, iii, 112; Burgoyne's capture 
of, 131, 132; Col. Brown's attack on, 135. 

Tilden, Samuel J., 351. 

Tilghman, Gen., 297. 

Tippecanoe, battle of, 199. 

Tompkins, Daniel D., 218, 223. 

Treaty of Ryswick, 83 ; of Utrecht, 84 ; of 
Aix-la-Chapelle, 85; of Paris, 96; of 
Paris, ending Revolutionary War, 175 ; 
with Algiers, 186; of Ghent, 217; of Wasli- 
ington, 238; of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 24S; 
with China, 353. 

Trent affair, 280. 

Trenton, battle of, 126. 

Tripoli, war with, 193. 

Troup, Gov., 226. 

Tryon, Gov., 128, 147. 

Twiggs, Gen., 245, 246. 

Tyler, John, elected Vice President, 236; 
administration of, 237-239. 

Underbill, Capt. John, 64. 



Union Pacific Railroad, 349. 

United States Bank, 203, 21S, 229. 

United States Constitution, 179, 377-387- 

Utah, admission of, 359. 

Utrecht, treaty of, 84. 

Vaca, Cabeza de, 21, 22. 

Valencia, Gen., 246. 

Vallandigham, C. L., 319. 

Valley Forge, Washington's army at, 136. 

Van Buren, Martin, election of, 232 ; admin- 
istration of, 233-236. 

Van Dorn, Gen., 305, 314. 

Van Horn, Major, 200. 

Van Rensselaer, Gen., 201. 

Van Twiller, Wouter, Gov., 74. 

Van Wart, Isaac, 155. 

Vera Cruz, capture of, 245. 

A'erhult, William, 50. 

Vermont, admission of, 176, 184, 220. 

Verrazano, 24, 25. 

Vespucci, Amerigo, 19. 

Vicksburg, 317. 

Vinland, 11, 12. 

Virginia, naming of, 37 ; failure to colonize, 
39; settlement of, 42-47, 68-70; secession 
of, 269. 

War Debt, 177. 

Ward, Gen., 107, loS, no, m. 

Ward, Nathaniel, 72. 

Warner, Col., 112, 133. 

Warren, Admiral, 209. 

Warren, Gen., 322, 324, 341. 

Wars: Pequot, 63, 64; King Philip's, 6.;- 
67 ; King William's, 81-S3 ; Queen Anne's, 
83-S4 ; King George's, 84-85 ; French and 
Indian, 87-96; Revolutionan,', 97-179; 
with Algiers, 192 ; with Tripoli, 193 ; of 
1812, 199-218; Seminole, 222,231; Mexi- 
can, 240-249; Civil, 272-344 ; Sioux, 351. 

Washington, city of, 190. 

Washington, Col., 1 59-161. 

Washington, George, at Fort Necessity and 
with Gen. Braddock, 8S-90; commander 
in chief at Boston, no, in; captures 
Boston, 115, 116; retreat from New York 
City, 123 ; at Trenton and Princeton, 125- 
127; at Morristown, 128; at Chads Ford, 
129; at Germantown, 130 ; sends troops to 
Gates, 131; at Monmouth, 141; his great 
difficulties in 1779 and 17^0, 149, ^5°; joins 
his army to that of Rochambeau, 169; out- 
generals Clinton, 170; at Yorktown, 171; 
troubles with the army, 176 ; presides over 
convention, 178; elected President, 180; 
administration of , 180-1S6; death of, 190. 

Washington, State, admission of, 357. 



%% W 



INDEX. 



399 



iras/>, captures Frolic, 202. 

Wayne, Gen., at Paoli, 129; at Stony Point, 

144; in front of Cornwallis in Va., 169; 

defeats tlie Indians, 183. 
Webb, Cien., 92. 
Webster, Daniel, 237, 238. 
Weitzel, Gen., 339. 
West Virginia, admission of, 269. 
Wethersfield, settlement of, 56. 
Wheeler, Captain, 66. 
Wheeler, Gen., 330. 
Wheeler, William A., 351. 
Whisky Rebellion, 183. 
White, John, 38. 

White Oak Swamp, battle of, 28S. 
White Plains, battle of, 124. 
Whitman, Walt, 368. 

Whitney, Eli, inventor of cotton gin, 182. 
Whittier, John Greenleaf , 368. 
Wilderness, battle of the, 323. 
Wilkes, Captain, 280. 
Wilkinson, Gen., 207, 209, 211. 
Willard, Major, 66. 
William Henry, Fort, surrender of, 92. 



Williams, Col., partisan chief, 152, 156. 

Williams, Col., defeated by Dieskau, 90. 

Williams, David, 155. 

Williams, Roger, 56. 

Wilmot Proviso, 249. 

Wilson-Gorman Bill, 358. 

Winchester, Gen., 204. 

Windsor, settlement of, 56. 

Wingfield, Edward, Gov., 43, 45, 

Winslow, Gov., 51, 66, 67. 

Winthrop, Gov., 56. 

Wisconsin, 41 ; formed from Northwest 

Territory, 182 ; admission to the Union, 

249. 
Witchcraft, 79. 
Wolfe, Gen., 93, 95, 96. 
Wool, Gen., 242. 
Worden, Lieutenant, 283. 
Wright, Gen., 341. 
Wyatt, Sir Francis, 69. 
Wyoming, admission of, 357. 
Yeardley, Sir George, 47. 
Yeamans, Sir John, 60. 
Yorktown, surrender of, 171. 












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